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Iraqi forces backed by US-led coalition air strikes have opened supply lines into the town of Beiji and its nearby oil refinery, Al Jazeera reports.

The development came as the UN condemned alleged abuses of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group against women.

Colonel Steve Warren, the defence department spokesman, said the US was not ready to declare Beiji refinery, the country's biggest, or the town "liberated", but progress was being made by Iraqi troops.

"Friendly forces have begun moving into the town ... and are methodically beginning to root out the enemy," Warren said.

At the refinery, Iraqi troops broke through to a contingent of Iraqi troops dug in at the northwest corner of the facility for several months and were able to deliver equipment and personnel to the men on the ground.

"This was a methodical and often times grinding movement from the south to the north," Warren said.