Tribal leaders in Anbar district protest power cuts, demand service reforms

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Tribal leaders and local notables in the Ammeryet es-Sumud district of Anbar province staged a protest against worsening electricity shortages and deteriorating public services, according to local accounts. The demonstrators said power is supplied to the local grid for only one hour at a time, followed by five-hour outages, a pattern that has halted irrigation pumps and caused significant damage to agricultural crops. The chronic cuts have also disrupted water treatment facilities, leaving residents struggling to secure drinking and household water on a daily basis, local figures said. Tribal leaders claimed that the district's allocated electricity share had been transferred to private investors in exchange for payment and called for an investigation to establish the facts behind the arrangement. Local leaders warned that if service conditions do not improve, residents could escalate with sit-ins and further demonstrations to press for reliable electricity, better services and the payment of sums owed to farmers. No response from provincial authorities was immediately available.