'Act of sabotage' downs electricity tower outside Mosul
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraq's state-owned General Company for Northern Electricity Transmission announced on Sunday the suspension of a major power transmission line near the city of Mosul as a result of sabotage.
"The line of East Mosul - Mosul Dam with a voltage of 400 kV was halted as a result of being exposed to an act of sabotage, by detonating an explosive device on the tower numbered (23) type (XYB), which led to its collapse downed power lines in the al-Salamiah area near the village of Al-Kasr,” read a statement that noted.
“This has caused a shortage in the supply of electric power throughout Nineveh province,” it continued, though lay no blame against ISIS or any other group known to operate in the area.
The statement added, “The engineering and technical staff in the maintenance teams of the lines of the Nineveh network, in cooperation with the Iraqi army, the electricity police, and engineering teams, proceeded to the scene of the incident and began work on reconstructing the fallen tower, repairing the damage, rewiring the line, and returning it to service as soon as possible.”
Another powerline in Iraq's disputed Diyala province was taken down in late July in a "terrorist attack," according to the electricity ministry, amid scorching summer temperatures.
Read More: Powerline in Iraq's disputed Diyala taken down in 'terrorist' attack
The electricity ministry said at the time that an explosive device was detonated under a Khanaqin-Kalar power transmission line, felling the structure and leading to outages in areas connected to that part of the grid.
It was not clear who was behind the attack, although ISIS has in the past used such tactics, including in Diyala province. Several assaults of this kind took place in 2018.
The ministry reported the incident on Saturday just before a military spokesman said Iraqi counterterrorism forces had recently killed a senior ISIS member in rural parts of Diyala.
The terrorist organization has recently mounted attacks on civilians and security forces alike. In one incident in the capital of Baghdad, a suicide bomber killed more than 30 people in a popular market.