Blast shuts down pipeline in Turkey

ANKARA — Turkey’s state-run television says Kurdish rebels have attacked a pipeline carrying oil from Iraq to world markets, cutting oil flows for a second time in two weeks.

TRT television says the rebels blew up a section of the pipeline running from Kirkuk, in northern Iraq to a Turkish Mediterranean port, late Sunday. The attack occurred in the southeastern province of Mardin.

Officials at Turkey’s Energy Ministry and at the state pipeline company could not immediately be reached.
It was the second attack on the pipeline in just over two weeks. On July 21, an explosion and fire blamed on rebels also shut down oil flows for days.

Two pipelines from Kirkuk to the Turkish Mediterranean port at Ceyhan carry about 25 million tons of crude oil a year. — AFP