Besieged at oil plant, 300 almost out of time

Iraqis holding on, but supplies short

IRBIL, Iraq -- Security forces occupying Iraq's largest oil refinery remain besieged by fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant on Saturday as American and Kurdish officials warned the garrison could not hold out much longer unless relieved.

About 300 Iraqi soldiers were still in control of at least part of the huge oil refinery in Beiji after five days of fighting that have left the storage tanks of the facility on fire and fighters from the Islamic State and their Sunni Muslim tribal allies in control of at least part of the facility.

The refinery, which was evacuated of its foreign and Iraqi workers last week, produces about 60 percent of Iraq's domestic production of refined oil products.

If it falls, it would devastate Iraq's economy, which already is forced to import hundreds of thousands of barrels of refined gasoline per day from Kuwait and Turkey.

Although the Iraqi government contends it beat back a major attack by an estimated 500 Islamic State fighters Thursday, witnesses said the black Islamic State flag could be seen flying over much of the facility, which spans hundreds of acres in the oil town just north of the Islamic State-held city of Tikrit.

A U.S. security official told ABC News that the garrison is running low on ammunition, food and water and would be unlikely to hold out much longer.

The Islamic State took control of Iraq's second-largest city, Mosul in northern Iraq, nearly two weeks ago and since has swept down to the outskirts of the capital facing only limited resistance from a handful of towns that remain in government hands, including Samara and Beiji. But while the advance has slowed in recent days, the government forces have done little to retake the real estate it lost over the past 10 days.

"They were able to drop some ammo and food to the army on Thursday by helicopter," said a Kurdish security official who did not want to be named because he did not have permission to speak publicly. "But Baghdad doesn't have the air force needed to keep them supplied or protect them. It will fall soon I think and that will be a big problem for everyone."

An oil industry consultant based in the Kurdish autonomous region, which has remained peaceful, says that his colleagues are assuming that the facility will fall and that despite Irbil, a city 55 miles east of Mosul, having a small refinery of its own, there will be a lag in supply before Turkish tankers can supply the city through a long overland route.

"Generators, cars and trucks, pumping equipment and drilling," he said. "All run off the stuff. People are hoarding for a shortage or making sure they have access to the black market."

After a few days of rationing, Irbil appeared to be out of gasoline for automobiles, with people deeply concerned about when supplies would become available.

Baghdad residents reported normal gasoline prices and availability but say there's a run on certain items. Flour prices have nearly doubled and there are shortages of fruit and vegetables for which Iraq relies heavily on imports from Syria and Jordan, two countries effectively cut off from the capital by land.

A Section on 06/22/2014

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