Drivers in Duhok block main road to protest fuel shortages

DUHOK, Iraq — Drivers in Duhok province closed the main road connecting the Amadiya district to the city center for about one hour, citing overcrowding at fuel stations and a shortage of subsidized gasoline, local media reported on Friday. Security forces and police patrols were dispatched to the scene, reopened the road and dispersed the protest, while officials listened to the drivers' demands. One protester, Hazim Hishyar, said queues were poorly managed and that some drivers had been waiting since the early morning hours or since Wednesday to receive their gasoline rations. Another driver, Shafkan Ali, said subsidized gasoline is priced at 550 dinars per liter and that the long waiting times have caused serious hardship for motorists. Protesters called on the Kurdistan Regional Government to increase the gasoline quota allocated to fuel stations in the province. Duhok's local administration had on Friday raised the number of stations distributing gasoline from 9 to 18 without changing the total quantity allocated to the province, a change drivers said had only lengthened the queues.