Police commander, three officers injured during fish pond removal operation

BASRA — The commander of the Federal Police’s 12th Brigade and three other officers were injured Thursday during an operation to dismantle unauthorized fish ponds along the Tigris River in Basra’s Thaghar subdistrict, security officials said.

Brig. Gen. Alaa Rashid was wounded alongside three police personnel when owners of the illegal ponds resisted the operation, a security source told 964media. “During the removal of six illegal ponds, their owners confronted the executing force, burned tires, and pelted security personnel with stones,” the source said.

The confrontation led to several arrests. “The force is determined to carry out its duty, remove the illegal ponds, and detain those who assaulted security personnel,” the source added.

The incident underscores a growing national campaign to shut down unauthorized fish farms, which officials say are straining Iraq’s already fragile water resources. Many ponds have been built without government approval, drawing large quantities of water from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers amid worsening drought conditions.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani visited Basra and reaffirmed the government’s zero-tolerance policy. “We emphasized the need to proceed with strict measures to address violations along the rivers and not tolerate them in any form,” he said.

The Ministry of Water Resources also reported dismantling an illegal groundwater well this week in Karbala’s Ain al-Tamur district. The well had been supplying ten unauthorized fish ponds, part of a wider enforcement effort that has shut down 31 illegal wells in the area, the ministry said.