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In this Sunday, Aug. 31, 2014, file photo, Iraqi security forces and Shiite militiamen chant anti-terrorism slogans after breaking the siege on 15,000 Shiite Turkmens stranded in the farming community town of Amirli, following U.S. airstrikes against Sunni Islamic State group positions, 105 miles north of Baghdad, Iraq.Uncredited/The Associated Press

Iraq's state television is reporting that army troops have driven out Islamic State extremists from the heart of the town of Beiji, home to the country's largest oil refinery.

The television station quoted the top army commander there, Gen. Abdul-Wahab al-Saadi, as saying troops recaptured the city's local government and police headquarters Tuesday.

Beiji, 250 kilometres north of Baghdad, was seized by the Islamic State group militants in the summer as part of their blitz across northern Iraq and areas to the west of the capital in Anbar province.

There was no immediate government confirmation of the television report, but al-Saadi said Saturday that his forces had recaptured most of the city.

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