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Seventeen people were killed in Iraq on Monday in clashes between ISIS militants and pro-government forces in a town close to the country's biggest refinery, a focal point in efforts to counter the ultra-hardline Sunni group, Reuters reports.

The refinery beside the town of Baiji has changed hands before, reflecting the Iraqi army's struggle to hold territory it recaptures after months of clashes.

Fighting Monday took place on a road used by ISIS for supply lines leading from Baiji to the nearby town of Siniya to the west.

Twelve militants, two government soldiers and three members of Shiite militias that provide vital support for the army were killed, a senior regional security official said.

Siniya is held by ISIS, which controls a third of Iraq, as well as parts of neighboring Syria.

The group, which also holds territory in Libya and has sympathizers in Egypt, highlights the spread of Islamist militancy since the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings that toppled veteran autocrats who had repressed hardline groups.

Iraq's government hoped to gain significant momentum after the army and its Shiite militia allies seized back Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit in April after a month-long battle.