Despite having abundant water resources, Afghanistan unfortunately remains dependent on imported electricity, largely coming from its northern neighbors in Central Asia. The imported power has, in addition to causing economic losses, become a vulnerable chink in the government’s armor. The power grid that transmits imported electricity from northern provinces to the central, southern and southeastern regions has become a massive vulnerability of the country’s national power network. Sometimes wild weather leaves much of the country without electricity, while sometimes militant groups blow up power transmission lines and pylons as a means to pressure the government. On Sunday, the Taliban again destroyed four electricity towers carrying 220 KW of electricity imported from Uzbekistan in northern Baghlan province, cutting power to 11 provinces, including capital Kabul, according to Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS), Afghanistan’s main power utility.
Targeting and destroying public infrastructure is against all rules of war. The insurgents may do so with the aim to squeeze the government, but it hurts ordinary people and private businesses more than anyone else. The new blackout in 11 provinces may have forced many industrial factories largely reliant on imported electricity to halt operations, thereby inflicting massive financial losses on people and private businesses that are not affiliated with the government, and just live in areas controlled by the government. Also, the laborers might have lost daily wages, and micro enterprises might have suspended operations or acquired the electricity through other expensive sources such as generators, which mostly adds to air pollution besides carrying other risks.
The power cuts have become an incessant headache. Although the problem has occurred several times, the government has unluckily not taken any necessary preventive measures. The government has to address the issue once and for all. Either it has to take enough security measures to protect the power grid, or reach an agreement with the Taliban not to target the infrastructure. The Taliban who reject involvement in attacks on and destruction of public infrastructure must give up its sabotage campaign and hostile behavior towards the masses and should not further embitter their lives through such disruptive activities. They may be aiming to harm the government, but they are also losing the very people which they want to rule in the future.
