Shafaq News- Kirkuk

Water supplies have resumed in Kakai* villages in Kirkuk, northern Iraq, after nearly two years of disruption, the head of the Kirkuk Provincial Council's Services Committee told Shafaq News on Friday.

Ahmed Kirkuki said that the committee treated the issue “as a top priority” after receiving complaints from residents, launching a series of meetings with relevant authorities to find a permanent solution and restore water supply lines.

“Many residents had been forced to rely on water tankers and alternative sources to meet their daily needs, placing a significant financial and living burden on families.”

According to Kirkuki, restoring water service marks the first step in a broader plan to improve basic services in rural areas, particularly villages that have experienced declining access to water, electricity, and road infrastructure in recent years.

Earlier this week, officials warned that drinking water shortages were threatening 95 villages and more than 32,000 residents, disrupting agriculture and livestock farming and leaving thousands of residents without reliable drinking water.

*The Kakais are a Kurdish religious minority, estimated between 110,000 and 200,000 people, concentrated in Kirkuk, Diyala, Erbil, Al-Sulaymaniyah, and parts of Nineveh, according to the Minority Rights Group.

Read more: Kept in Silence: The untold story of Iraq’s Kakai faith