BAGHDAD — A truck bomb killed at least six police officers and wounded 16 people Saturday in the northern oil hub of Baiji, the second attack in two days to take aim at Iraq's most lucrative industry.
The blast in the city about 125 miles north of Baghdad was also the latest reminder of an apparent move by insurgents to step up attacks in northern regions after being pushed out of the capital by an increased troop presence.
Although attacks on civilians nationwide have fallen about 55% since June, according to U.S. military figures, the level of attacks in Diyala and Salahuddin provinces just north of Baghdad has remained the same or increased.
The latest attack was carried out by a suicide bomber in Baiji, home to thousands of employees of Iraq's largest oil refinery. Two pipelines cross through the city, one carrying oil from the Kirkuk field to Baiji for refining, and another carrying oil north into Turkey. The refinery handles about 300,000 barrels a day from Kirkuk, according to Iraq's Oil Ministry.
Because of its strategic importance, the city is a frequent target of insurgents, as are the pipelines. In June, 18 people died when a suicide bomber struck Baiji's police headquarters. An August attack at another Baiji police post killed 24 people.
Since the war began in March 2003, more than 460 attacks have been carried out against Iraq's oil installations or industry employees, according to the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, which monitors security issues related to energy. These have included scores of blasts along pipelines, including one Friday about 10 miles northeast of Baiji that sent oil spilling into the Tigris River.
The attacks have left Iraq's oil industry struggling to increase exports, on which 90% of the country's revenue is based. Before the war, Iraq exported about 2.3 million barrels per day. Last year, it averaged 1.6 million barrels daily.
In an interview Friday on Iraq's Al Hurra television, Oil Minister Hussein Shahristani said exports had reached 2 million barrels a day recently.
"Thank God for those high oil prices," he said.
Oil analysts and U.S. officials, however, say that until Iraq's government passes a bill overseeing management of the country's oil fields and establishing a system for divvying oil revenue, the industry will remain stunted by the lack of investment. Shahristani alluded to that legislation in the interview, saying the most important thing in the industry is "full national control over the oil resources," including guaranteeing employment for Iraqis.
