(Adds quotes, details)

BAGHDAD, Dec 10 (Reuters) - A rocket attack sparked a big fire at a domestic oil refinery in southern Baghdad on Monday but the plant was still operating, Iraqi police and officials said.

Firemen were fighting the blaze, which broke out in a storage tank for refined crude at the Doura refinery, sending a large plume of smoke into the sky.

Police said the blaze was set off when a Katyusha rocket hit the facility at about 6.00 a.m. (0300 GMT). There were no reports of any casualties.

Rockets also hit the Karrada district in central Baghdad and the heavily fortified Green Zone, which houses the Iraqi parliament, the U.S. embassy and many government buildings, police said.

"It is believed a rocket landed on one of the storage tanks for refined crude in the Doura refinery," said Oil Ministry spokesman Assim Jihad.

He said the fire had been isolated and was under control.

"They will extinguish it within the next few hours," Jihad said.

The Doura refinery receives crude from Iraq's north and south to supply refined oil products to Baghdad. (Writing by Paul Tait, Editing by Dean Yates)

AlertNet news is provided by