Clashes erupt in Wasit as protesters press for electricity guarantee

WASIT — Clashes broke out Friday between security forces and hundreds of protesters in Wasit governorate after demonstrators said local authorities had failed to obtain a written guarantee from Iraq’s federal government confirming the governorate’s electricity allocation at 1,500 megawatts.

The protesters gathered outside the Wasit Provincial Council building in Kut seeking to shut it down, triggering confrontations that left people injured on both sides. Security forces continued pursuing protesters through intersections near the council square after the clashes.

The protesters had given the local government a deadline to secure an official document from Baghdad guaranteeing Wasit’s share at 1,500 megawatts, saying no such commitment had been delivered.

The demonstrations are the latest in a weekslong campaign in Wasit over electricity shortages. On June 29, dozens of residents gathered at al-Sayyad intersection in central Kut demanding a written guarantee fixing the allocation at 1,500 megawatts and pledged to continue peaceful demonstrations until their demands were met. “We will remain committed to peaceful protest and preserve it, but we will not stop demanding our rights to electricity,” protest organizer Maytham al-Rikabi said at the time.

Protesters also appealed to Iraq’s highest Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, and Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr to support Wasit’s demands, arguing that the governorate hosts major power plants but receives only a small share of the electricity it produces.

The current wave began June 24, when residents gathered outside the council over declining supply and threatened to close the building. The Wasit local government later said the governorate had not received a fair allocation despite its contribution to national power generation, and pledged to press Baghdad for a larger share.

The demonstrations led to the arrest of several activists. On June 28, the National Security Service announced the release of 22 detainees from Wasit after judicial procedures were completed, saying agency chief Bassem al-Badri personally guaranteed bail for those unable to provide a guarantor.

Electricity shortages have sparked protests elsewhere in Iraq in recent weeks. Residents in several parts of Basra demonstrated outside power facilities and substations in June, demanding longer supply hours as temperatures climbed and warning of escalation if service did not improve.