SULAIMANI (ESTA) — The Iraqi ministry of electricity said on Monday the transmission power line between Kirkuk and Erbil was damaged after a tower was exploded in a village in Kirkuk province.
In a statement, the ministry said the transmission tower in the village of Shirnawa in Kirkuk province was exploded by an improvised explosive device (IED).
“Last night, the Kirkuk-Erbil 400 KV transmission line between was exploded in a sabotage act,” the ministry added.
“The sabotage act damaged the power tower and the electric engineering team went to the scene to repair it in a short period of time.”
Unclaimed attacks on Iraq’s electricity network have been increasing since the start of summer, at a time when the country is facing severe power shortages.
Authorities normally accuse the Islamic State of being behind the attacks.
On Friday, militants blew up a transmission tower in Tarmiya, north of Baghdad. The pylon supplies the Tarmiya pumping station which serves Karkh, the city’s west and home to several million people.
Residents of Karkh told AFP on Saturday that water had been cut off since the day before.
Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi met security and intelligence officials on Friday and ordered the establishment of a crisis unit to protect the electricity network.
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 failure of Iraq’s power system is particularly acute in the baking hot summer months, when temperatures shoot past 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit).
