Taliban destroy pylon, leaving Kabul in the dark

Monitoring Desk

KABUL: Baghlan provincial police said on Saturday that Taliban insurgents destroyed an electricity pylon in Baghlan province. According to the officials, the destruction of the pylon, which transmits electricity from Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, has left much of Kabul without power.

Late Friday night Taliban insurgents detonated explosives close to the pylon in Doshe district of Baghlan, police said. With the destruction of this pylon, electricity has now been cut off in a number of provinces, including the capital Kabul. Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS) officials confirmed to TOLOnews that a pylon, which transmits electricity from Tajikistan and Uzbekistan has been destroyed in Baghlan province and for now Kabul is without imported electricity. Officials said they are trying to fix the problem but their engineers have not yet reached the area.

The Taliban said in a statement that they destroyed the pylon in response to government having cut electricity to some of the areas under their control. This is the second time in a month that insurgents have damaged pylons in Baghlan province. Last month Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS) officials in Baghlan province said that unknown men destroyed a key power pylon in Kelagai in the province.

This pylon was blown up following the destruction of two other pylons a week earlier by the Taliban in Kunduz. This pylon also cut off electricity from Tajikistan to Kabul. Insurgents said in a statement that they will cut off all electricity to Kabul unless government distributes electricity to areas in their control.