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June 24th, 2014
09:45 PM ET
Up to 10,000 militant fighters now in Iraq, Syria
Baghdad, Iraq (CNN) - Iraqi officials insisted Tuesday they were holding on to a key oil refinery while making gains elsewhere against militant fighters.
The deputy prime minister for energy affairs, Hussain al-Shahristani, denied media reports that militants had taken the Baiji oil refinery, saying that security forces are still fighting militants at the site.
The state-run Iraqiya news agency also claimed that security forces still controlled the refinery.
Iraqi special forces killed the militant who led the attacks against the refinery, who goes by the name of Abu Qutada, Iraqiya said. Airstrikes also killed 19 militants, the news agency reported.
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