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Pentagon sees 'tough' Iraqi battle to secure Baiji oil refinery


    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon on Wednesday said Iraq's fight to secure the country's largest oil refinery from Islamic State militants was headed in the wrong direction and declined to predict the outcome of ongoing battle.

    "It's been a tough, fluid fight," Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steve Warren told a news briefing, adding that "right now it's flowing in the wrong direction."

    "It could still turn around. At this point, it's impossible to predict how it?s going to play out."

    Reuters has reported insurgents hold large sections of the sprawling Baiji refinery complex in northern Iraq where policemen, soldiers and elite special forces are holding out.

    (Reporting by David Alexander; Writing by Phil Stewart; Editing by Will Dunham)