Afghan capital, other parts powerless amid attacks on electricity infrastructure

KABUL, Afghanistan

Afghanistan’s capital Kabul and many of its surrounding areas were plunged into darkness for hours through Monday night, as unknown assailants targeted a power transmission tower in the war-weary country for the fourth time in a month.

A key power pylon bringing electricity from Tajikistan was blown up in the Salang area on Monday evening, leading to a loss of some 400 megawatts and depriving the provinces of Kabul, Parwan, Maidan Wardak, and their surrounding areas of critical supply, according to power utility Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS).

In a month, nearly a dozen power transmission towers in northern parts of Kabul have been destroyed in attacks that have not been claimed by any group.

The Taliban insurgents have also repeatedly rejected accusations of their involvement.

DABS said the damaged transmission infrastructure was causing losses of imported electricity amounting to at least $34,000 per hour.

“We pay an annual figure of $300 million for imported electricity. Power outages cause various types of damages to DABS in addition to the lost revenue,” Sanger Niyazay, a spokesperson for the power utility, told Anadolu Agency.

He said work to reconstruct the destroyed tower is underway and the supply of imported electricity will resume “soon.”