Al-Zaidi Orders Investigation into Oil Smuggling from “Jurf Al-Sakhar”

Al-Taj News – Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi ordered, on Wednesday, the formation of an urgent investigative committee into suspicions and operations of smuggling oil derivatives in the Jurf Al-Sakhar (Jurf Al-Nasr) area south of Baghdad, where Kata’ib Hezbollah, close to Tehran, is stationed; in a step that threatens to exacerbate the conflict between the government and the most influential armed factions in the country.

The Iraqi News Agency reported, quoting an informed source, the existence of intelligence documents and satellite imagery documenting crude pipeline breaches, the establishment of illegal storage stations, and smuggling routes that included transporting oil toward the capital, Baghdad.