SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Three more transmission towers were exploded by improvised explosive devices (IED) in south of Mosul on Monday, Iraqi media cited security sources as saying.
A security source said militants targeted the double-circuit 400 KV transmission line of Qayyarah-Mosul dam with IEDs on Monday, according to Shafaq.
The attack damaged three power towers in the area, leading to cuts of power supply to Muzamilat area in west of Nineveh province.
Unclaimed attacks on Iraq’s electricity network have been increasing since the start of summer.
Authorities normally accuse Islamic State (ISIS) militants of being behind the attacks.
On Thursday, Iraq’s northern Saladin province was left partially without power after “terrorists” blew 13 pylons up in two days, according to the electricity ministry.
The interior ministry said militants had attacked 160 power towers in the last seven months.
Oil-rich Iraq produces just 16,000 megawatts of power – far below the 24,000 megawatts needed, and even further from the expected future needs of a country whose population is set to double by 2050, according to the U.N.
The country buys gas and electricity from neighboring Iran to supply about a third of its power sector, which has been worn down by years of conflict and poor maintenance, and is unable to meet the needs of the country’s 40 million population.
Last month, areas in the country’s south were plunged into darkness for several days after a series of similar attacks.
Around the same time, Iran briefly suspended its gas and electricity exports because of Iraq’s failure to pay a $6 billion energy debt.
The U.S. blacklisted Iran’s energy industry in late 2018 as it ramped up sanctions, but has granted Baghdad a series of temporary waivers, hoping that Iraq would wean itself off Iranian energy.
The failure of Iraq’s power system is particularly acute in the baking hot summer months, often a time of social protest exacerbated by electricity shortages, when temperatures shoot past 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit).
