December 11, 2006
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A huge fire broke out at an oil storage facility after explosions Monday night in a volatile area south of Baghdad, police said.
Iraqi firefighters extinguished the blaze shortly after it broke out about 9:15 p.m. at the Latifiyah facility, about 25 miles south of Baghdad, area police officer Lt. Haidar Sattar said.
He said sabotage was suspected, but more details would not be available until Tuesday because the blast occurred after dark in the Sunni-dominated area south of Baghdad known as the "Triangle of Death" for the large number of insurgent attacks.
Since the U.S.-led war ousted Saddam Hussein in 2003, Iraq's oil industry has been hit by many such attacks on its pipelines, which run through remote areas of the country.
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