Iraq PM Orders Investigation Into Alleged Jurf al-Sakhar Fuel Smuggling
(MENAFN) Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi on Wednesday ordered a formal probe into alleged fuel smuggling in Jurf al-Sakhar, a central Babil province district where armed factions hold considerable sway.
A committee has been tasked with investigating the claims and delivering its findings without delay, according to an official directive published by the state news agency.
The move came after local media reports cited a 19-page Iraqi intelligence assessment that traced suspected smuggling activity back to 2021.
A local news outlet reported that the document alleges pipelines were tapped and that tanker trucks and storage facilities were used to move the fuel. It also points to armed factions as being involved in the suspected scheme, the outlet said.
The assessment reportedly rests on satellite imagery, geospatial analysis and tanker movements monitored from 2021 through 2026, the same outlet reported.
On Tuesday, Babil Governor Ali Turki al-Jamali dismissed the allegations after touring the area with journalists.
Al-Jamali said the site named in the reports is an aging fuel station that supplies vehicles of the government-affiliated Popular Mobilization Forces and the federal police, and that the tankers there are not used for smuggling. He characterized the claims as part of a campaign against security forces deployed in the area.
Iraqi forces and Popular Mobilization Forces factions retook Jurf al-Sakhar from the ISIS (Daesh) terrorist group in 2014. The area is still under tight security restrictions, and many residents displaced by the fighting have not yet returned.
A committee has been tasked with investigating the claims and delivering its findings without delay, according to an official directive published by the state news agency.
The move came after local media reports cited a 19-page Iraqi intelligence assessment that traced suspected smuggling activity back to 2021.
A local news outlet reported that the document alleges pipelines were tapped and that tanker trucks and storage facilities were used to move the fuel. It also points to armed factions as being involved in the suspected scheme, the outlet said.
The assessment reportedly rests on satellite imagery, geospatial analysis and tanker movements monitored from 2021 through 2026, the same outlet reported.
On Tuesday, Babil Governor Ali Turki al-Jamali dismissed the allegations after touring the area with journalists.
Al-Jamali said the site named in the reports is an aging fuel station that supplies vehicles of the government-affiliated Popular Mobilization Forces and the federal police, and that the tankers there are not used for smuggling. He characterized the claims as part of a campaign against security forces deployed in the area.
Iraqi forces and Popular Mobilization Forces factions retook Jurf al-Sakhar from the ISIS (Daesh) terrorist group in 2014. The area is still under tight security restrictions, and many residents displaced by the fighting have not yet returned.
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