Explosion on Kirkuk power line takes down 7 electricity towers

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Iraqi Ministry of Electricity said Tuesday that seven electrical power transmission towers in Kirkuk had collapsed after an explosion in what it called a deliberate act of sabotage.

The General Company for Northern Electricity Transmission said in a statement that there was a dramatic rise in gangs “targeting transmission lines and blowing up electricity towers” in the northern regional lines “to isolate them from the national system.” 

The Kirkuk-Baiji line was “subjected to sabotage” with explosive devices, which caused seven of the transmission towers to fall, cutting wires and cutting off the power in the Riyadh region of Kirkuk province, it said.

Five towers recently vandalized on the same line in the Shirqat area were intended to be restored to full operation, it added. 

Engineering and technical staff are working to restore the power lines, the statement said.

Ministry staff have been hampered by the hot summer temperatures and difficulty in maneuvering heavy machinery into the area, but the ministry said there were also explosive devices planted along their work route.

It was not clear who placed the explosives that took down the Kirkuk-Baiji towers, but ISIS have used such tactics in the past, including in Diyala province and in several similar attacks in 2018.

Recently electricity towers were targeted in Nineveh, Kirkuk, and Salahuddin provinces, with 27 towers taken down in one week.