SIRNAK (AA) - August 27, 2012 - A blaze has hit a Turkey-bound Iraqi oil pipeline, shutting down the tube that carries about a quarter of Iraq's oil exports, Turkish officials said Monday.
Officials said efforts were underway to put out the fire which broke out early Monday on a section of the 960-km Kirkuk-Yumurtalik pipeline.
Officials said the cause of the fire was not immediately known as Turkish troops were deployed at the area, setting up a security perimeter.
The two lines carry about 25m tonnes of crude oil a year.
The terrorist organization PKK has claimed responsibility for similar attacks in the past on the pipeline between the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk and Turkey's Mediterranean port city of Ceyhan.
