Bomb sets fire to oil pipeline in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A bomb exploded under an oil pipeline and set it on fire Monday south of Baghdad, and Iraqi and U.S. forces were sent to secure the area, police said.

No injuries were reported in the blast near Mahmoudiya, about 20 miles south of Baghdad, said police 1st Lt. Haider Satar. He said the bomb had been planted beneath the pipeline, which carries crude oil from storage tanks in nearby Latifiyah to the Dora refinery in Baghdad.

The U.S. command said Iraqi and American forces were deployed to the area as Iraqi firefighters battled the blaze, and Satar said the fire was out by about noon.

Since the U.S.-led war toppled Saddam Hussein in March 2003, the country's oil industry has suffered many such attacks on its pipelines, which run through remote areas of the country.

Iraq's main oil terminals are located in northern Iraq and the southern area of Basra.

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