If true, US intelligence assessments on the strength of the Islamic State are grossly underestimated.

The video features footage from recent fighting near the town of Karmah, just northeast of Fallujah.

US officials and generals continue to downplay the involvement of Iranian-backed Shiite militias in offensives in Iraq, and their dominance of the Popular Mobilization Committee.

The fall of the strategic location means that the Syrian regime has lost control of all crossings with Iraq.

The audio, which features Al Douri discussing recent events, refutes reports that he was killed last month in the Hamrin Mountains.

Iraq’s Ministry of Defense claimed that Abu Alaa al Afari and a large number of Islamic State fighters were killed in a coalition airstrike that targeted a mosque. CENTCOM denied it launched a strike on a mosque.

Iraqi and US military officers have warned that the facility is close to falling to the Islamic State. The Iraqi government and Iranian-backed Shiite militias are sending reinforcements to besieged troops.

Iraqi forces overpowered at Baiji refinery

The jihadist group shows more fighting that has taken place at the facility. It is unclear when some of the footage was recorded, as some scenes have been previously featured in photo reports. While the Iraqi Security Forces have claimed to have regained control of the refinery after a recent Islamic State offensive, attacks are still occurring at the complex.

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Islamic State fighters penetrated the perimeter of the Baiji oil refinery complex, the largest in Iraq, after a suicide bomber thought to be from Afghanistan or Pakistan detonated outside the main gate.
