BAGHDAD: Baghdad on Tuesday began rehabilitating the oil pipeline to Turkey’s Ceyhan port that bypasses Iraqi Kurdistan, after a suspension of nearly three years, the Iraqi oil minister and lawmakers said.
The 970-km-long pipeline, which extends from the northern city of Kirkuk to Ceyhan, is Iraq’s second-largest, crossing Salahuddin and Mosul provinces.
Exports through the pipeline were suspended in June 2014 when Daesh overran the two provinces.
Resuming oil exports while bypassing Iraqi Kurdistan is the latest in a series of economic sanctions by Baghdad against the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), which held a referendum on independence last month.
“After the liberation of Nineveh, Salahuddin and Hawija” from Daesh, “a major campaign to repair the pipeline has been launched by the Oil Ministry to resume exports,” ministry spokesman Assam Jihad told Arab News.
Iraq used to export between 250,000 and 400,000 barrels per day through the pipeline, mainly from Kirkuk’s oilfields.
Following Daesh’s advances, a replacement pipeline was built to link Kirkuk’s oilfields to Ceyhan via Iraqi Kurdistan.
“The rehabilitation of the (original) pipeline is a priority for the Oil Ministry to resume exports and boost income for the federal Iraqi budget,” Jihad said.
A deal between Baghdad and the KRG to export 550,000 barrels per day via the replacement pipeline was approved by the federal Parliament in December 2014 — 400,000 barrels from Kirkuk and the rest from oilfields in Kurdistan.
In return, the KRG was supposed to hand the revenues to the state oil company for the federal budget. But Baghdad has not received any revenues.
“The Kurds totally took control over both the export process and getting back the revenues,” a senior federal oil official told Arab News on condition of anonymity.
“We have no idea how much they’re exporting. For the last three years, they kept refusing to give us any information about exports, and to hand over the revenues.”
The federal parliamentary oil and gas committee is backing Baghdad. “Controlling oil and gas resources are exclusive responsibilities of the federal government, and exports by any other side are legally recognized as smuggling,” committee member Awad Al-Awadi told Arab News.
“The federal government has to gain back control over oil exports as they belong to all Iraqis. No one has the right to control them but the federal government.” The pipeline will be repaired in no more than three months, Al-Awadi said.
Baghdad says revenues from oil exported by the KRG goes directly to bank accounts in a neighboring country that are registered in the names of Kurdish leaders.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi said in his weekly press conference that Iraqi oil is for all Iraqis and not for a limited number of (Kurdish) officials who put the money (revenues) in their bank accounts.”
He added: “This money has to go to the people… we allocate money from (the oil revenues) to pay the employees in Kurdistan.”
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Baghdad to bypass Iraqi Kurdistan with oil exports
Baghdad to bypass Iraqi Kurdistan with oil exports
Radical Israeli settlers post list of their attacks on West Bank Palestinians
JERUSALEM: The radical Israeli settler group Hilltop Youth has published a tally of attacks it says it carried out against Palestinians over the past month in the occupied West Bank, describing the violence as its “struggle against the Arab enemy.”
The movement, known for hard-line activism and involvement in efforts to drive Palestinians from parts of the territory, posted the list on its Telegram channel on Wednesday, detailing incidents it claimed responsibility for.
The tally, titled “Monthly summary of the struggle against the Arab enemy in the Holy Land,” lists 29 vehicles set ablaze, 12 homes torched, “40 Arabs injured,” and hundreds of windows smashed and olive trees cut down across 33 towns and villages.
Five of them are in Mikhmas, a village near Ramallah. A nearby Bedouin community left the area this month, citing sustained harassment.
On Wednesday, the Ramallah-based Palestinian health ministry said a 19-year-old had died of wounds sustained after being shot by settlers in Mikhmas.
The Hilltop Youth’s figures reflect a surge in settler violence across the West Bank.
The UN said nearly 700 Palestinians were displaced by settler violence and intimidation in January alone — the highest monthly figure since the Gaza war began in October 2023.
Hilltop Youth is a loose network of hard-line settlers, often made up of small groups of teenagers sometimes overseen by an adult, who establish unauthorized outposts atop West Bank hills.
They are widely accused of using intimidation and violence to push Palestinians out from areas surrounding the outposts.
While most Israeli settlers do not engage in violence, a small but militant fringe has been linked to attacks on Palestinians.
On Tuesday, a group of influential rabbis from settlements in the northern West Bank issued a public letter celebrating settlement expansion while insisting violence was forbidden.
Excluding Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, more than 500,000 Israelis live in West Bank settlements and outposts, which are illegal under international law.
Around three million Palestinians live in the territory, which Israel has occupied since 1967.
The current Israeli government, considered one of the most right wing in the country’s history, has fast-tracked settlement expansion and recognized some outposts.
It approved a record 54 settlements in 2025, according to Israeli NGO Peace Now.
The movement, known for hard-line activism and involvement in efforts to drive Palestinians from parts of the territory, posted the list on its Telegram channel on Wednesday, detailing incidents it claimed responsibility for.
The tally, titled “Monthly summary of the struggle against the Arab enemy in the Holy Land,” lists 29 vehicles set ablaze, 12 homes torched, “40 Arabs injured,” and hundreds of windows smashed and olive trees cut down across 33 towns and villages.
Five of them are in Mikhmas, a village near Ramallah. A nearby Bedouin community left the area this month, citing sustained harassment.
On Wednesday, the Ramallah-based Palestinian health ministry said a 19-year-old had died of wounds sustained after being shot by settlers in Mikhmas.
The Hilltop Youth’s figures reflect a surge in settler violence across the West Bank.
The UN said nearly 700 Palestinians were displaced by settler violence and intimidation in January alone — the highest monthly figure since the Gaza war began in October 2023.
Hilltop Youth is a loose network of hard-line settlers, often made up of small groups of teenagers sometimes overseen by an adult, who establish unauthorized outposts atop West Bank hills.
They are widely accused of using intimidation and violence to push Palestinians out from areas surrounding the outposts.
While most Israeli settlers do not engage in violence, a small but militant fringe has been linked to attacks on Palestinians.
On Tuesday, a group of influential rabbis from settlements in the northern West Bank issued a public letter celebrating settlement expansion while insisting violence was forbidden.
Excluding Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, more than 500,000 Israelis live in West Bank settlements and outposts, which are illegal under international law.
Around three million Palestinians live in the territory, which Israel has occupied since 1967.
The current Israeli government, considered one of the most right wing in the country’s history, has fast-tracked settlement expansion and recognized some outposts.
It approved a record 54 settlements in 2025, according to Israeli NGO Peace Now.
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