Protesters block roads over Iraq power cuts

Shafaq News- Al-Diwaniyah/ Dhi Qar

Protests over worsening electricity supplies spread across southern Iraq on Thursday, with residents blocking roads in Al-Diwaniyah and Dhi Qar using burning tires.

Shafaq News correspondent reported that demonstrators took to the streets in Al-Nahda neighborhood in central Al-Diwaniyah, after dozens protested earlier in Al-Fidaa neighborhood in Al-Nasiriyah and Al-Fuhud district east of the city, closing key roads over severe power cuts.

Iraq’s summer electricity demand exceeds 60,000 megawatts, with a supply gap of nearly 40,000 MW, according to the Electricity Ministry. Transmission and distribution losses reach about 60%. The ministry has partly linked the shortages to disrupted Iranian gas supplies, which fuel several Iraqi power plants, since the US-Israeli war began on February 28.

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