Tuesday, 3 November 2026

In Kirkuk, Governor Mohammed Samaan Agha said Tuesday that a government committee would visit on 4 November to examine the electricity crisis, and urged residents to end protests over generator fees. Shafaq News reported that the provincial council capped monthly charges at 13,000 IQD per ampere through November on Monday. 964media reported a Monday reduction from 18,000 to 15,000 dinars after overnight clashes injured protesters and security personnel. Residents continued demanding lower charges and blocked major roads and intersections with burning tires and concrete blocks. Generator owners shut down their units in opposition to the reduced rate. Agha blamed fewer hours of national-grid electricity and reduced diesel allocations, rejecting claims that the local administration was responsible.

In Nineveh, dozens of families of terrorism victims protested outside the Martyrs Foundation office Tuesday after their pension payments were suspended without an official explanation. Beneficiary Ali Saleh Ammash al-Mafarji said around 3,000 beneficiaries were affected and that officials told families the decision came from Baghdad. Another beneficiary, Sami Younis, said families discovered the stoppage when bank-card withdrawals showed no funds available. He said many affected households included elderly people and patients dependent on the payments for living and medical expenses. Separately, a survey presented by the Kurdistan Regional Government’s High Council for Women and Development found that 91% of participating households struggled to cover basic daily expenses because of delayed public-sector salaries. The study, conducted with UN Women, also found that 89% of renting families struggled to pay rent and 66% of employees surveyed sought additional work. Council head Khanzad Ahmed urged Baghdad and Erbil to keep salaries out of political and administrative disputes, a week after the KRG recorded earlier unpaid salary entitlements as debt owed to employees.

Hoquq MP Saud al-Saadi (KH) opposed passing the current PMF bill in remarks first carried the previous evening by Al-Ghadeer TV (Badr Organization — official), Watan TV (Badr Organization — affiliated) and Shabab al-Islam (Ashab al-Kahf — owned) and repeated by Al-Ittijah TV (KH — official) on Monday. His rejection contrasts with Badr Organization secretary-general Hadi al-Amiri and PMF chairman Faleh al-Fayyad’s Sunday call to complete the legislative procedures promptly. Tasnim cited unnamed Iraqi political sources saying US reservations persisted despite amendments and Coordination Framework discussions continued. On weapons negotiations, Shafaq News cited a source familiar with the negotiating committee saying Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi had held separate talks with faction leaders opposed to surrendering their weapons. The source said al-Amiri and other committee members objected, fearing talks outside the committee could undermine its work. The committee was still working toward al-Zaidi’s 30 June 2027 deadline. Shafaq separately cited political sources saying US Chargé d’Affaires Steven Fagin had warned Iraq of sanctions and treatment as a state sponsor of terrorism unless Baghdad took concrete steps to bring factional weapons under state control by that date. Asharq Al-Awsat’s unnamed sources described widening Framework divisions over disarmament, al-Zaidi, government posts and the financial crisis.

Separately, Alhurra reported that al-Zaidi sent four military brigades to Basra on Saturday, citing unnamed Iraqi security and political sources. Those sources linked the deployment to information received by the government alleging that Iran-aligned factions planned to attack Kuwait from the province. Baghdad had not announced the reinforcements, according to the report. The provincial council’s account of the army chief’s visit emphasized securing border areas, rather than the attack-plan allegation attributed to the anonymous sources.

In Salahuddin, Al-Nujaba TV (Nujaba — official) reported on Tuesday that the provincial PMF Operations Command had launched a security operation with the Samarra Federal Police Operations Command. Unit 10,000 (KH — affiliated) also reported a joint PMF–security operation in the province. Al-Ghadeer TV and Al-Janoub TV (Harakat al-Jihad wal-Bina — official) carried matching captions naming both commands and placing the operation in southern Salahuddin. kalimaiq.com added a more specific route, describing a coordinated PMF security and reconnaissance duty from south of Samarra to the outskirts of Dujail.

In Kirkuk, Al-Nujaba TV presented the 18,000-dinar generator tariff as the reason residents had taken to the streets. Authorities reduced the monthly fee to 15,000 dinars per ampere on Monday after overnight clashes injured protesters and security personnel, according to 964media. The reduced rate remained above the previous 14,000-dinar tariff. By evening, Al-Ahad TV (AAH — official) reported renewed protests and road closures over higher generator prices.