“Electricity Terrorism” Continues in Northern Iraq halting Two Lines
The Iraqi Ministry of Electricity said Wednesday that two power transmission lines were attacked by “terrorists” in the northern provinces of Kirkuk and Salah al-Din.
In a statement, the ministry said that the transporter north of Samarra (voltage 132 km) was targeted by an improvised explosive device that targeted the same tower two days ago and repaired, causing the line to go out of service in the area of Ajeel in Salah al-Din province.
Kirkouk-Kayara bus line (400 KF) was targeted by an improvised explosive device, which knocked the line out of service in al-Majamat area in Kirkouk province, she said.
It explained that the targeting of the Kirkouk line was the second attack in four days. It was repaired and put into service yesterday and remained in service for no more than 24 hours after five towers were targeted a few days ago in the area of Talal Al-Baj in Al-Sharqat.
These repeated attacks on power transmission towers took time, effort and money, which should be used to add new projects to support the electric power system, she said.
Iraq’s electricity system has suffered collapses in recent days due to bombings that targeted high-energy transmission towers and cut off vital supplies from Iran, Iraqi officials said.
The Joint Security Operations Command announced the start of procedures and arrangements to limit the targeting of power towers, using drones, army helicopters, and the Air Force.
In about a month, Iraq has recorded nearly 34 bombings of power transmission towers located in the northern regions of the country.