A pro-militant social media account put out this picture of smoke rising after an attack by Al Qaida-inspired militants on the countryís largest oil refinery in Beiji, some 155 miles north of the capital, Baghdad
The attack follows last week's capture by militants of wide swathes of territory in northern Iraq and comes as the spectre of the sectarian warfare that nearly tore the country apart in 2006 and 2007 now haunting those trying to decide how to respond.
An employee of the state-owned North Oil Company said there had been casualties among security force personnel and that staff had fled.
The Baiji refinery accounts for a little more than a quarter of the country's entire refining capacity - all of which goes toward domestic consumption for things like gasoline, cooking oil and fuel for power stations.
Any lengthy outage at Baiji risks long lines at the gas pump and electricity shortages, adding to the chaos already facing Iraq.
Nouri al-Maliki, a Shi'ite who has been in office since 2006, said in a televised address that the loss last week of a large swathe of territory has helped Iraq restore its national unity.
'We were able to contain the strike and arrest deterioration... we have now started our counter-offensive, regaining the initiative and striking back,' he said.
But his upbeat assessment came as reports suggested ISIS militants had captured three-quarters of Iraq's largest oil terminal in Baiji after a day of heavy fighting at gates defended by elite troops.
Insurgents are also thought to have kidnapped at least 100 foreign workers across the country during their week-long offensive. There have been no reports so far to suggest that British nationals are among them.
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