PMF security chief to lead Jurf al-Sakhr smuggling probe

Shafaq News- Baghdad

The head of the Popular Mobilization Forces' (PMF) Security and Discipline Directorate will lead the investigation into alleged fuel smuggling in Jurf al-Nasr, formerly Jurf al-Sakhr, replacing Lt. Gen. Saad Mohsen Uraibi, who was assigned the probe only days earlier, according to an official document obtained by Shafaq News.

The committee includes representatives of the prime minister’s office, the commander-in-chief’s office, the Federal Integrity Commission, the Oil Ministry, the Federal Police, the Counter-Terrorism Service, and the Interior Ministry, including its Energy Police, the document stated.

Parliament Speaker Haibet al-Halbousi has also formed a separate committee to examine the allegations.

Both probes follow a confidential intelligence report, obtained by Shafaq News, that documented five years of activity consistent with illegal oil extraction near pipelines in Jurf al-Sakhr, an area widely known to be controlled by Kataib Hezbollah. Babil Governor Ali Turki al-Jamali, who denied the allegations on Tuesday, resigned on Thursday.

Read more: Satellite report flags suspected oil smuggling in Iraq’s Jurf al-Sakhr