Iraqi government forces are edging closer to recapturing the country’s biggest oil refinery at Baiji.<br /><br />It is the nearest they have come to breaking a siege by Islamic State militants during two months of fighting.<br /><br />The Iraqi soldiers advance has been halted by a series of roadside bombs believed to have been planted by the militants between the complex and the nearby town.<br /><br />On Thursday, the group released an audio recording of its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to counter claims that he was killed or wounded in an air strike last week.<br /><br />Some have blamed the Iraq soldiers’ slow advance on corruption and incompetence within Iraq’s forces. This week the prime minister fired 26 military commanders.<br /><br />Islamic State jihadists seized the city and surrounded the sprawling refinery during a lightning campaign through northern Iraq. Their hold on the city has been loosened by US-led air strikes on militant positions but many believe they remain a force to be reckoned with.
