US deploying airborne snipers to protect northern Iraqi pipelines

Oct. 6, 2003
The US soon will begin deploying airborne snipers to prevent further acts of sabotage that already have stopped the flow of oil from Iraq's northern fields to its export terminal at the Turkish port of Ceyhan.

By Eric Watkins
Middle East Correspondent
NICOSIA, Oct 6 -- The US soon will begin deploying airborne snipers to prevent further acts of sabotage that already have stopped the flow of oil from Iraq's northern fields to its export terminal at the Turkish port of Ceyhan.

US military commanders in Iraq have opted to revive the elite 327th Tiger Force, consisting of long range reconnaissance patrols originally created for action in Viet Nam.

Helicopter pilots recently have trained to fly snipers along northern pipelines, which run 500 km between Iraq and Turkey. The pilots are expected to fly at night without light and to hover within range of targets. "We can hit a target before it knows we're there," said one sniper.

Deployment of the snipers is the latest effort by US forces to control sabotage attacks that have targeted the northern pipeline system since May. Earlier efforts included local protection units formed by Iraqi police forces and local tribesmen.

Defense against sabotage attacks
In August, US forces announced that a South African company, Erinys, had been contracted to hire 6,500 Iraqis to guard key installations, including oil wells, pipelines, and refineries, as well as electricity and water facilities (OGJ Online Aug 18). Erinys is due to begin work at the end of October.

The northern pipeline system suffered substantial damage in August when it was rocked by two explosions in just 2 days.

On Aug. 15, saboteurs destroyed a section of the line at Shirqaat, just 2 days after oil exports to Turkey resumed for the first time since Mar. 21. On Aug. 17, a second attack took place near Baiji, north of Tikrit.

At the time, the US governor of Iraq, Ambassador L. Paul Bremer III, said closure of the pipeline would cost the country $7 million/day in revenue badly needed for postwar reconstruction.

"The irony is that Iraq is a rich country that is temporarily poor," Bremer told the opening meeting of a committee set up to coordinate foreign aid for Iraq. "An event such as the explosion on the Kirkuk pipeline. . .hurts the process of reconstruction."

The US military said the saboteurs are guerrillas loyal to former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein who are trying to undermine Iraq's US-led administration by curtailing oil revenues.

Before the outbreak of the US-led war in March, the northern pipeline transported 700,000 b/d of oil from Iraq's oil fields at Kirkuk to the export terminal at the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan.

Repairs to the pipeline are expected to be completed by mid-October, and first exports after the latest damage could come by early November. Iraq increased production to an average of 1.45 million b/d in September, which was up 500,000 b/d from August but still far below pre-war production of 2.8 million b/d.

Alternative oil export routes
Apart from the deployment of snipers, however, US officials also are considering alternative routes to export Kirkuk crude that would allow resumption of sales.

The three possible routes for oil exports include use of a reversible strategic pipeline to divert Kirkuk crude to export terminals in the south. Exports could also flow through the strategic pipeline to a southern pipeline through Saudi Arabia or could be diverted to a western route through Syria.

But exports from Kirkuk southward through alternative routes, which would not start for 6-12 months anyway, would likely be subject to sabotage because crude from Kirkuk to any export route must pass near Baiji, where attacks on oil facilities and US troops persist.

Many of the inhabitants of Baiji, just 30 miles north of Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, worked for the security forces and administration of the old regime. They lost their jobs after the US occupation,

Underscoring the persistence of hostility in Baiji, Iraqis shouting slogans supporting the old regime staged an uprising during the weekend, burning down the mayor's office, fighting with US troops, and forcing local police to flee.

About 1,000 people were in a stand-off with troops Sunday night, with tanks surrounding the police station in the city, 160 miles north of Baghdad.

Baiji contains the largest oil refinery in Iraq and is a key point on the main north-south oil pipeline. The uprising was largely spontaneous but was prompted by hostility to the US occupation and by rumors that Iraqi oil is being smuggled via Turkey to Israel.