TIKRIT: Suicide bombers struck a state-run power station north of Baghdad early on Saturday, killing seven people and forcing the facility to shut down in an attack claimed by IS, police and army sources said.
At least three gunmen wearing explosive vests attacked the power station around 3 am local time, near the northern city of Samarra, about 100 km north of Baghdad. They used grenades to enter the facility.
“I was on my night shift and suddenly heard shooting and blasts. A few minutes later I saw one attacker wearing a military uniform and throwing grenades through the windows,” said Raied Khalid, a worker who was injured by shrapnel.
The attack comes as Iraqis mark the first day of the Eid al Adha feast.
Security sources said the three gunmen briefly took control of the station, but police managed to regain control after three hours.
IS later claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement.
Four policemen and three workers were killed in the assault, in which 13 were wounded, police and medical sources from a nearby hospital said.
One of the attackers, who was cornered by security forces, detonated his suicide vest near one of the power generators, causing a fire.
The two other gunmen were killed, security sources said, either by blowing themselves up or in clashes with the security forces.
Operations at the facility were expected to be suspended briefly, while repairs were under way, electricity officials said.
OIL EXPORT SLIPS
Iraq’s oil exports slipped to 3.216 million barrels per day in August from 3.230 million bpd in July as no shipments were made from the northern Kirkuk field, the oil ministry said on Saturday.
All the volumes shipped in August came from the southern fields, it said in a statement. Kirkuk is the only field supervised by the government in the north.
The volume announced by the ministry accounts for shipments from the fields supervised by the central government in Baghdad, and does not include those from the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq.
The average sale price in August was $46.22 per barrel, generating $4.6 billion in revenue, the statement said.
The bulk of Iraq’s oil is exported via the southern terminals. Smaller amounts are shipped from northern Iraq via Ceyhan in Turkey.
— Reuters
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