HOMS, Syria, July 29 (UPI) -- A bomb exploded Friday in the Syrian city of Homs, leaving a 50-foot crater near a pipeline carrying crude oil, an official said.
Ghassan Abdul-Aal, the governor of Homs, told the official Syrian Arab News Agency that saboteurs were to blame for the explosion.
"At 4 a.m. on Friday, some citizens heard an explosion near a pipeline for transporting crude oil to Baniyas," he was quoted as saying.
Water resource officials said they had to cut off water supplies to local farmers to prevent oil contamination from spreading. They added the attack was "deliberate and well-planned."
A fire erupted July 12 on an oil pipeline in Deir Ezzor province near the border with Iraq, though investigators blamed dry conditions for sparking the blaze.
Oil production peaked at 583,000 barrels per day in 1996. In 2010, the Omar and Jbessa fields, the largest in the country, were producing around 300,000 bpd combined.
Homs, the site of Friday's blast, has been caught up in the political violence gripping much of Syria. SANA adds that saboteurs targeted a train in the area last week, killing the driver and several passengers.
