The Iraqi government is making progress in its efforts to hold on to the country’s largest oil refinery and to retake a nearby city controlled by Islamic State fighters, the Pentagon said Monday. An Iraqi Shiite fighter battles Islamic State for the city of Beiji. Iraqi security forces, working with Shiite militias, have broken through a defensive line controlled by Islamic State, allowing Baghdad to resupply its forces fighting for the Beiji oil refinery over land, said Col. Steve Warren, the Pentagon spokesman. That has allowed Iraqi security forces to mark progress against Islamic State forces mounting an assault on the refinery. Shiite militias, fighting under the banner of the Popular Mobilization Force and largely controlled by the Iraqi government, also are leading an offensive to retake the nearby city of Beiji, Col. Warren said. Those forces, along with some Iraqi forces, have moved into Beiji and begun to […]