Iraq’s army must do more to protect a northern oil pipeline and should pay as much attention to it as it does to fighting militants, Iraq’s top energy official told AFP Sunday. The rare criticism of the security forces comes with the pipeline, which connects the northern province of Kirkuk to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, having been disabled for three months as a result of militant attacks as the army grapples with a year-long nationwide surge in violence. “I have pointed out repeatedly that this — protection of the export pipeline — should be a national priority, no less than confronting the terrorists in Fallujah or elsewhere,” Hussein al-Shahristani, deputy prime minister responsible for energy affairs, said in an interview. He was referring to battles between security forces and anti-government fighters who have held sway over Fallujah, a […]