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Explosion in oil pipeline northwest of Baghdad: US Military
Baghdad, June 22: An explosion has occurred in an oil pipeline northwest of Baghdad, a US army spokeswoman told, adding that the cause of the blast was still unknown.
Baghdad, June 22: An explosion has occurred in an oil pipeline northwest of Baghdad, a US army spokeswoman told, adding that the cause of the blast was still unknown.
"There was a pipeline explosion northwest of Baghdad near
the town of hit. There are no reported US casualties,"
Sergeant First Class Mayra O'Neil said, adding that the cause
was under investigation.
"All we know is that there was an explosion. The pipeline may still be burning," she added.
Iraq was due to resume oil exports Sunday after a three-month halt due to the US-led war to oust Saddam Hussein.
The site of the blast was around 10 kilometres from hit, itself some 150 kilometres from Baghdad.
An oil pipeline between Iraq and turkey, the main export route from the country's northern fields, was damaged earlier this month in what officials said was an effort to sabotage the country's return to the oil market.
That attack on June 12 caused two separate fires on the pipeline, near the key refinery town of Baiji, close to the main highway between Baghdad and the northern regional capital Mosul.
Residents said the blazes were sparked by twin bomb attacks on the same day Iraq awarded its first post-war oil export contracts and were aimed at sabotaging deliveries which the US-led coalition is poised to resume.
Bureau Report
"All we know is that there was an explosion. The pipeline may still be burning," she added.
Iraq was due to resume oil exports Sunday after a three-month halt due to the US-led war to oust Saddam Hussein.
The site of the blast was around 10 kilometres from hit, itself some 150 kilometres from Baghdad.
An oil pipeline between Iraq and turkey, the main export route from the country's northern fields, was damaged earlier this month in what officials said was an effort to sabotage the country's return to the oil market.
That attack on June 12 caused two separate fires on the pipeline, near the key refinery town of Baiji, close to the main highway between Baghdad and the northern regional capital Mosul.
Residents said the blazes were sparked by twin bomb attacks on the same day Iraq awarded its first post-war oil export contracts and were aimed at sabotaging deliveries which the US-led coalition is poised to resume.
Bureau Report