18/06/2014 18:50
Iraq crisis: Battle grips vital Baiji oil refinery
The Iraqi army says it has driven off Islamist-led militants attacking the country's biggest oil refinery amid reports it had been overrun, the BBC reported.
An official told Reuters the militants had occupied 75% of the Baiji refinery, 210km (130 miles) north of Baghdad.
The army said 40 attackers had been killed, a claim which could not be verified independently.
Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has gone on television to urge Iraqis to unite against the militants.
Government forces are battling to push back ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) and its Sunni Muslim allies in Diyala and Salahuddin provinces, after the militants overran the second city, Mosul, last week.
US President Barack Obama is due to discuss the Iraq crisis with senior Congress members on Wednesday.
Senate leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, said he did not "support in any way" getting American troops involved in the Iraqi "civil war."