One-third of Afghanistan is cut off after electricity towers were destroyed in attacks
About a third of the country has been without power after the destruction of high-voltage towers in the northern province of Baghlan over the weekend, the country’s main electricity company said.
About a third of the country has been without power after the destruction of high-voltage towers in the northern province of Baghlan over the weekend, the country’s main electricity company said.
Three towers carrying 220 kilowatts of electricity imported from neighboring Uzbekistan were destroyed in Sunday’s attacks, cutting electricity to 11 of the country’s 34 provinces, including the capital Kabul, the Afghan Electricity Company said.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks, which came as fighting intensified in the northern provinces, including Baghlan, amid stalled US and Taliban insurgency efforts to reach an agreement on withdrawing thousands of US troops from Afghanistan.
The company said engineers had arrived from neighboring provinces to work on repairing the towers.
Afghanistan produces only 25 percent of its electricity, and power lines from Uzbekistan have been repeatedly attacked, forcing residents to rely on expensive diesel-powered generators.
