Unidentified attackers blew up an oil pipeline near the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk and set it on fire, police said on Monday.

The attack took place at the al-Dibbis oil field north of Kirkuk on Sunday evening, they said.

  Firefighters rushed to the area, but facing difficulties in putting out the fire due to enormous heat near the fire zone, the police added.

The pipeline supplies oil for internal use and the damage will hamper oil production.

Insurgents have regularly targeted Iraq's oil infrastructure, which repeatedly leads to cutting exports.

According to the Iraqi government, attacks on oil infrastructure have cost the country seven to eight billion US dollars in exports since the US-led invasion in March 2003.