BAGHDAD, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi Oil Minister Jabbar al-Luaiby on Tuesday said the Iraqi technical teams and firefighters have put out the fire at an oil well in Iraq's northern province of Kirkuk set out by the extremist Islamic State (IS) militants.
"The technical and engineering teams of the ministry's North Oil Company put out the fire of oil well number 122 of Bay Hassan oilfield, some 40 km northeast of the ethnically-mixed city of Kirkuk," a ministry's statement quoted Luaiby as saying.
It said that the ministry had retook control of the oilfields of Bay Hassan and Hafana from the Kurdish Peshmerga forces following the redeployment of the Iraqi forces in the oil-rich Kirkuk province on Oct. 16.
After the redeployment, the ministry immediately put a plan to put out the fire set by the IS militants on May 17, 2017, the statement said.
The ministry's technical and engineering teams are also working to put out fire in four more oil wells sabotaged earlier by the extremist militants in Allas and Ajil oilfields in the eastern part of the nearby Salahudin province, the statement added.
On Oct. 16, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who is also Commander-in-Chief of Iraqi forces, ordered government forces to enter Kirkuk in northern Iraq to regain control of the ethnically-mixed disputed areas claimed by both Baghdad and the semi-autonomous region.
Tensions have been running high between Baghdad and the region of Kurdistan after the Kurds held a controversial referendum on the independence of the region and the disputed areas.
