Iraqi Military Spokesman: Punishing Oil Smugglers In Jurf al-Sakhr Will Be A Deterrent

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) - The spokesman for Iraq’s commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Sabah al-Numan, said on Saturday that holding accountable and punishing those involved in oil smuggling in Jurf al-Sakhr, also known as Jurf al-Nasr, will be a deterrent to anyone who covets public wealth.

He told Iraqi state media that the Higher Judicial Council fully supports the government’s measures.

Numan said the commander-in-chief’s office had received reports about the waste of public funds and the theft of oil through smuggling in Jurf al-Sakhr, a sensitive area in Babil province through which the strategic pipeline carrying Basra crude to the Daura refinery in Baghdad and the Musayyib power station passes.

After the intelligence information arrived, Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi formed a joint technical and intelligence committee and asked it to finish quickly.

Numan said it went to the area and produced its report in a short time, and the findings matched the information in the intelligence reports on smuggling and excesses.

On Saturday, Zaidi chaired an emergency security meeting and ordered that all those accused in the smuggling case be referred to court, according to Numan.

He also removed nine officials from their posts, including the Babil police chief, the director of the north Babil police, the heads of intelligence and security directorates of the interior and defense ministries in Babil, the provincial director of the National Security Service, the Popular Mobilization Forces commander in Babil, the commander of the interior ministry’s 6th Energy Police Brigade and the director of the oil ministry’s Oil Pipelines Company.

He warned all provincial security commanders that they will face accountability and harsh punishment if any negligence in protecting public wealth and fighting oil smuggling is proven.

The statement did not name the suspects or say what role each official played.

The investigation began after a classified Interior Ministry intelligence report was sent to the Iraqi parliament.

It said oil smuggling had turned into an organized network and that oil products are sold outside the state system toward Iran and from there to Afghanistan. It also pointed to a main route called the “Eastern Corridor,” which starts at the Kirkuk and Sulaimani fields, where the official oil shares are seized by smuggling networks before they arrive.

AFP described Jurf al-Sakhr as a stronghold of Kata’ib Hezbollah, which Washington designates as a terrorist organization, and said the investigating committee entered the area on Friday accompanied by members of the group. Kata’ib Hezbollah has not commented.