Group kills five policemen near Baiji refinery

Islamic State has killed five policemen in a town near Iraq's biggest refinery, in an attack that may help ease pressure on some of its fighters trapped in the strategically important facility, a security official said on Wednesday.

The official in a regional security command centre said the insurgents mounted the operation at Tal Albu Jarad village as part of a battle for control of Baiji refinery, which has changed hands several times.

An Islamic state is a type of government, in which the primary basis for government is the enforcement of shari'a, dispensation of justice, maintenance of law and order. From the early years of Islam, numerous governments have been founded as "Islamic."