An oil pipeline near northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk caught fire after a suspected sabotage explosion broke out, forcing a temporary export shutdown, police said Thursday.

The pipeline, serving as export channels between major oil fields in Kirkuk and Turkish port Ceyhan, was set ablaze at about 8:40 a.m. (0440GMT) after an explosion broke out near Fatha, some 90 km west Kirkuk.

Fire brigades had been called in to fight the fire after the US forces and Iraqi police sealed off the area.

Oil output was temporarily shut down. Oil fields in Kirkuk feed Iraq's largest refinery at Beiji, and
they come under frequent sabotage.

In earlier July, the North Oil Company compound in Kirkuk was attacked by mortars but no casualties or production disruption were caused.

Meanwhile, a major pipeline in southwest of Basra was blown a hole by saboteurs, causing oil spill along the line, witnesses said.

South Iraq serves as the country's major oil export terminals, with exports there amounting to some 1.7 million barrels per day despite frequent disruption by sabotage attacks.

Source: Xinhua