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Baiji

A view of a Baiji oil refinery, 180 km (112 miles) north of Baghdad, February 19, 2008.

An Iraqi oil refinery that was too important to destroy has just been destroyed

Conflict

A critical piece of Iraqi infrastructure, the nation’s largest oil refinery has been destroyed following a year long battle between pro-government Iraqi forces and fighters loyal to ISIS. The big question is “how was this allowed to happen?”

A view of the oil refinery in Baiji, Iraq, taken in 2007, when it was operational. The refinery has been shut down since June 2014.

The US has intervened to help Iraq hold its most important oil facility

Conflict
A general view of the Baiji oil refinery, Iraq's largest, in 2009. Today it's being held — barely — by Iraqi forces against ISIS fighters.

As the US bombs ISIS oil in Syria, militants lay siege to Iraq’s biggest refinery

Conflict
Families fleeing violence in northern wait at a checkpoint on the edge of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region. Half-a-million people are believed to have fled the city of Mosul in 24 hours.

Why Iraq may be headed for an all-out sectarian war

Conflict & Justice