Iraqi air strikes killed at least 32 people today as security forces sought to regain control of the country's largest oil refinery and a strategic town from Sunni militants, officials and witnesses said.
In the town of Baiji, north of Baghdad, where the oil plant is located, an attack by government forces reportedly killed at least 19 people and wounded more than 17 others. Officials said the dead and wounded were civilians.
It was unclear if there were any casualties among the militants who were the target of the strikes, although Iraqiya state television said 19 'terrorists' were killed.
ISIS fighters had earlier claimed to have fully captured the refinery and were handing it over to local tribes to administer the site after laying siege to the key facility for the last ten days.
The plant, in Salahuddin province, supplies a third of the country's refined fuel and would give ISIS a further stranglehold on the territories seized in its lightning offensive through the country.
In the Husseibah area of Anbar province, west of Baghdad, another air strike killed seven militants and six civilians, witnesses said.
The strikes came as the leader of a Sunni militant group fighting alongside ISIS vowed to continue the insurgency until Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki stands down
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