Provinces hit by blackout after power pylon destroyed

The incident took place before dawn in Jangal Bagh locality in eastern Parwan province…reports Asian Lite News

One dozen Afghan provinces, including Kabul, remained without electricity as another power pylon was destroyed by an explosion on Wednesday, national power company Breshna Sherkat confirmed.

The incident took place before dawn in Jangal Bagh locality in eastern Parwan province, north of Kabul, an official from Breshna Sherkat told local media, adding that a technical team has been sent to the area to assess the destruction.

Afghan technical teams were working to repair and restore the power supply as three electricity towers were destroyed a couple of days ago in the region, reports Xinhua news agency.

Afghanistan has been facing power shortages in recent days.

The government has imported power from neighbouring Iran, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan, but the imported energy is still too little to meet domestic needs.

No group has claimed responsibility for the incident.

At least 27 power pylons have been destroyed or damaged by explosions along the power grid in recent months.

Last week, at least 100 shops and 20 houses were set ablaze by Taliban militants in Andkhoy district of Afghanistan’s northern Faryab province.

Fighting between government forces and the Taliban erupted in the restive district on June 23 and the militants seized it the next day.

However, the militants evacuated the district on June 25 after heavy fighting where 25 insurgents were killed, provincial police spokesman Mohammad Karim Yurash said.

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“The Taliban militants fled leaving 25 bodies behind. But before escaping they torched up to 100 shops including those selling carpets, grocery and vegetables. The militants also set ablaze 20 houses in the district,” Yurash told Xinhua.

Confirming the incident, another provincial official Nasir Ahmad Azimi asserted that the ongoing war and the recent clashes have hugely damaged the local economy as many shops and houses had been destroyed.

Another member of the provincial council, Abdul Ahad Elbik told Xinhua that the fighting had inflicted heavy property losses on the people and fighting is still continue in parts of the restive district.

Andkhoy is a port district of Faryab province, which connects the war-torn Afghanistan to Turkmenistan.

Taliban militants have captured more than 70 districts since the start of the withdrawal of the US-led forces from Afghanistan on May 1.

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