ERBIL - Certain Shi'ite militias have harassed the foreign oil companies in the Iraqi city of Basra by taxing them while the federal government keeps silent on the issue, an expert said on Wednesday.

A petroleum engineer spoke to BasNews on condition of anonymity for security concerns and revealed that the militiamen threatened the companies to halt their work if they refuse to pay taxes and that they cannot reject the demand as the Iraqi government has not paid any attention to this issue yet.

About 85% of Iraqi oil is produced in Basra province where many foreign oil companies are based.

However, the expert did not specifically mention which militias he was referring to, but the pro-Iranian Hashd al-Shaabi is the main Shi'ite force in Iraq which was established in 2014 to fight Islamic State (IS) in the country.

Bas News