Iraqi tribe protests in front of Dhi Qar oil field

DHI QAR, Iraq - An Iraqi tribe has been protesting for over two weeks in front of an oil field in southern Iraq, demanding the employment and formation of a military regiment that includes fresh graduates and those who do not hold an educational certificate from within the tribe.

Members of al-Bedor tribe have been calling for their demands to be met from in front of al-Kati’a oil field in Dhi Qar for twenty days now.

“We ask the government and Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi to pay attention to the al-Bedor tribe. As the al-Bedor tribe is the main victim in the scene and we have no power or solution,” protestor Nafil Samir al-Badri told Rudaw’s Anmar Ghazi on Saturday.

They gave the authorities until the end of February to meet their demands.

“The authorities need to fulfill our demands by Sunday. We told them not to stop their work, but they stopped working in the oil station yesterday,” Mundhir al-Badri, leader of the al-Bedor tribe said.

“They wanted to create conflicts between us and the state. Our legitimate demands do not mean we stand against the state. The demands of the members are very basic,” he added.

In fear of a drastic escalation, Dhi Qar Oil Company (DQOC) decided to stop their operations in Nasiriyah on Friday.

With the oil field’s work halted, the production of as much as 80,000 barrels of oil per day has also stopped.