Iraqi firemen put out a fire in a gas pipeline that erupted by a bomb explosion in northern Iraq on Friday, an Oil Ministry official said.

The sabotage took place at about 3:30 a.m. local time (0030 GMT) when gunmen blew up the pipeline in an area located about 60 km southwest of Kirkuk, which itself is some 250 km north of the capital Baghdad, ministry spokesman Asim Jihad said in a statement.

The blast sparked a huge fire and halted the gas supplies from Kirkuk oil field to the oil installations in Baiji area, some 220 km north of Baghdad, and to the power plants in the area, Jihad said.

Fire engines backed by the ministry's engineers and technicians managed to put out the fire around midday, but gas pumping is expected to be resumed in two to three days after the damage is repaired, said the spokesman.

The attack could affect the national electricity supplies as discontent has already spread among Iraqis for the continuing power shortage despite spending dozens of billions of U.S. dollars in the past decade.

People in Baghdad and many Iraqi cities are left with just ten hours of power a day or less during the summer months when temperatures sometimes soar to above 50 degree Celsius.

Iraq's oil and gas pipelines have been frequently attacked by insurgents since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. Endi

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