Nineveh civil status office cuts hours over power shortages

MOSUL, Iraq — The director of Nineveh's Civil Status, Population and Residency Directorate said scheduled power outages and the office's lack of a permanent electricity line have forced changes to working hours, leaving citizens waiting in long lines for national identity cards. Brigadier General Hakim Daham al-Habbu said the directorate, which opened on May 16, 2026 and is the largest civil status office in the country, is currently relying on scheduled outages and generators. He said fuel for the generators is being purchased on credit because no budget allocation has been made. An additional 35 staff members had been assigned to evening shifts at the instruction of a former Interior Ministry undersecretary, but al-Habbu said the planned morning-evening rotation was suspended because the permanent power line has not been connected, preventing the new groups from coming on duty. The situation has created heavy crowding during the morning shift. In Mosul, residents seeking national identity cards continued to complain of long queues and slow processing.