ISIS fighters set fire to three wells near Hawija, west of the oil city of Kirkuk, one of two areas still under the control of the militant group, military and oil officials said on Monday.
Military officials said security forces were using bulldozers to control the fire, which was set on fire by militants in the early hours of Saturday to disrupt the advance of US-backed forces and Shi’ite armed factions towards Hawija.
Colonel Mohammed al-Jubouri said the militants were trying to use the rising smoke columns to avoid air strikes as they retreated from the area towards Hawija.
Military officials said the fire was controlled in a well. Controlling the flames in the other two wells could take three days, they said.
Officials at the state-run North Oil Company said sending their crews to assess the losses in the wells was still risky as the militants might have left behind bombs and landmines.
