Blast hits Iraq pipeline

A blast on Saturday near the northern town of Hit was sabotage, officials say

An explosion has hit a fuel pipeline near Iraq's border with Syria.

There are no details so far about the cause of the blast, which took place in the early hours of Monday morning.

Oil ministry officials said a similar explosion which took place on Saturday was caused by sabotage.

Iraq's fuel infrastructure has come under attack several times. Earlier this month another supply route from Iraq to Turkey was damaged.

Key to wealth

"The ministry is aware of an attack near al-Abidiyah al-Ghaarbiya not far from the Syrian border," an oil ministry spokesman told the AFP news agency.

"It seems there are people prepared to mount such attacks every day on Iraq's pipeline," he said.

Iraq resumed limited oil sales on Sunday from storage tanks at Ceyhan in Turkey - the first Iraqi oil export since the US-led invasion began on 20 March.

But Iraqi officials say they will not be able to start pumping oil from the northern fields of Kirkuk to Ceyhan because the pipeline remains damaged.

The export of crude oil is the main way for Iraq to get foreign revenue and get its defunct economy back on track.