Blast hits Baghdad water supply; US soldiers shot

BAGHDAD - A major water pipeline in northern Baghdad was breached on Sunday, flooding nearby streets and cutting off the supply to parts of the Iraqi capital, after what locals said was a bomb attack.

Sabotage of fuel pipelines, power cables and water pipes has dogged attempts by the US-led administration to rebuild Iraq's decrepit oil industry and restore basic services.

The main oil export pipeline to Turkey -- a crucial economic lifeline for Iraq -- was shut down last week just days after reopening, following technical hitches and a bomb attack that sparked a fire.

Paul Bremer, the US governor of Iraq, said the closure of that pipeline was costing the country $7 million a day.

Washington blames die-hard supporters of deposed leader Saddam Hussein and foreign militant groups for sabotage of infrastructure and attacks on US forces that have killed 60 American troops since the United States declared major combat over on May 1.

In the latest ambush in Baghdad, two US soldiers were shot and wounded as they left a restaurant on Saturday, the military said. Both were in a stable condition in hospital.

Iraqi police and security guards have also come under attack from anti-US fighters who accuse them of collaborating with occupying troops.

In the northern city of Mosul, the headquarters of an Iraqi civilian security force was attacked with machinegun fire and a rocket-propelled grenade on Saturday afternoon.

One of the security guards was killed and four were wounded, their colleagues told Reuters. The security force was set up to help guard hospitals, schools and other facilities.

Earlier on Saturday, Mosul's police chief was wounded in a gun attack on a police convoy.

Officials at the holed water pipeline in Baghdad said it would take at least eight hours to repair the damage. Water cascaded out of the breach in the elevated pipeline and poured out onto the road below.

Locals said they had been woken by a loud blast and had seen a car speeding away from the scene.

Thamir Ghadhban, US-appointed de facto oil minister, told a news conference in Baghdad on Saturday the fire at the oil export pipeline to Turkey was caused by a bomb attack north of the town of Baiji.

"We believe at this stage it was an explosive device planted on the pipeline," he said.

A fire raged at the scene of the blast, sending thick black smoke into the air, until it was brought under control on Saturday. The pipeline had reopened on Wednesday for the first time since the US-led war that toppled Saddam.

Looting and technical hitches have also hampered efforts to get oil exports flowing fully from a country that has the world's second-largest known reserves. The oil industry suffered from a lack of investment in Saddam's final years.

Oil exports from southern Iraq have been badly hit by electricity blackouts caused by breakdowns of ramshackle equipment and rampant looting of copper power cables.

Many Iraqis say US-led forces have failed to restore water, electricity and other basic services to prewar levels. They also want to see evidence that the running of the country will be handed over completely to Iraqis soon.

- REUTERS


Herald Feature: Iraq