Katyusha Rocket hits oil refinery in Iraq's Salahudin province; no casualties

A rocket attack has caused a huge fire at an oil refinery in northern Iraq briefly halting operations, according to reports. The Katyusha rocket hit a fuel storage tank at the small Siniya refinery in Salahudin province on Sunday, November 29 and there were casualties reported.

Col. Mohammed al-Bazi told a Chinese news agency Xinhua that the incident took place in the evening when the rocket landed inside the al-Siniya refinery and set a huge fire without causing human casualties. Firefighters rushed to the site to douse the fire of the refinery, which is located southwest of Iraq's largest oil refinery of Baiji, some 200 km north of Baghdad, al-Bazi added.

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Security members injured during an attack by militants

Meanwhile, in another incident, five security members were injured during an attack by militants of the extremist Islamic State (IS) group in the rugged area of Mteibijah in the eastern part of the province, al-Bazi informed. Mteibijah area has long been a redoubt of IS militants despite repeated anti-IS military operations in the spreading rugged areas in the eastern part of Salahudin province. The are extend to the neighboring Diyala province and the nearby Himreen mountainous area, al-Bazi added.

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The two incidents occurred as the extremist IS militants have escalated their attacks on the security forces and civilians in the formerly IS-controlled Sunni provinces, resulting in the killing and wounding of dozens. The security condition in Iraq has been improving as Iraqi security forces have fully defeated the IS militants across the country late in 2017. However, IS remains have since melted in urban areas or deserts and rugged areas, carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against security forces and civilians, the reports stated.

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(With ANI inputs) (Representative image)