New pipeline bombing adds to Kirkuk field woes

KIRKUK - Iraq's embattled export pipeline to Turkey has been offline since a late-night bombing on Sept. 16, in the same area of Ninewa province where persistent attacks have bedeviled security forces and repair crews and contributed to record-low output from the Kirkuk field.

Before the Monday attack, ITP from Kirkuk to the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan was operating for only 13 days, following an attack in at the end of August. Those bombings targeted segments of the pipeline near Ain al-Jahsh, just south of Mosul, which is the same area that was targeted Monday.