Iraqi forces crack down on fuel smuggling
Shafaq News- Diyala/ Saladin
Security forces have deployed at fuel stations and tightened checks on main and external roads in Iraq's Diyala province to curb fuel smuggling and black-market sales, while police in neighboring Saladin said they had arrested several people accused of contributing to the shortage through illegal fuel sales.
A security source told Shafaq News that tactical regiment personnel and law-enforcement units were posted outside a number of stations in Diyala to crack down on unlicensed street fuel dealers, as well as to direct traffic and stop drivers from cutting queues or driving the wrong way. The measures are aimed at controlling distribution, ensuring fuel reaches residents and curbing practices that worsen queues at fuel stations.
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In Saladin, provincial police said security units had arrested a number of violators accused “of worsening the shortage through illegal sales and distribution practices that disrupt supplies.”
Baghdad and several central and southern provinces have faced fuel shortages for weeks amid a wider crunch across Iraq. Earlier this month, Oil Minister Basim Khudair Al-Abadi said the ministry was working to address the shortfall and that new shipments would arrive soon.
