(VOVworld) – The Islamic State on Saturday launched suicide attacks against Baiji oil refinery, Iraq’s largest.

- The site has been the scene of fierce battles since ISIS swept across the region last year. (Photo: AP)

A major general from Salaheddin province described the attack on the refinery, which lies around 200 kilometers north of Baghdad, as “the fiercest since they broke the siege a few months ago.” He said IS militants attacked the large complex from three fronts: Al-Bujwari village to the south, the housing compound for refinery employees to the west and one of the smaller plants producing derivatives to the east. Three suicide attackers were able to reach the entrances of the refinery. Two were killed but one managed to blow himself up. The official said that the Iraqi forces protecting the refinery regained control of the entrances and that the entire site was now under government control.

In another development, IS militants have executed 33 people, including women and children, near the city of Ramadi, the capital of Iraq's western province of Anbar.