A major water pipeline in northern Baghdad was breached today, flooding nearby streets and cutting off the supply to parts of the Iraqi capital, after what locals said was a bomb attack.
Sabotage of fuel pipelines, power cables and water pipes has dogged attempts by the US-led administration to rebuild Iraq's decrepit oil industry and restore basic services.
The main oil export pipeline to Turkey - a crucial economic lifeline for Iraq - was shut down last week just days after reopening, following technical hitches and a bomb attack that sparked a fire.
Mr Paul Bremer, the US governor of Iraq, said the closure of that pipeline was costing the country $7 million a day. Washington blames die-hard supporters of deposed leader Saddam Hussein and foreign militant groups for sabotage of infrastructure and attacks on US forces that have killed 60 American troops since the United States declared major combat over on May 1st.
In the latest ambush in Baghdad, two US soldiers were shot and wounded as they left a restaurant yesterday, the military said. Both were in a stable condition in hospital.
Officials at the holed water pipeline in Baghdad said it would take at least eight hours to repair the damage. Water cascaded out of the breach in the elevated pipeline and poured out onto the road below.