Islamic State blows up electricity pylons, cuts power, west of Ramadi
Electricity towers and transmission lines.
“IS militants placed explosives under three electricity pylons between Hit and Baghdadi cities. Exploded, the pylons fell on the ground,” Sharhabeel al-Ebeidi, head of the city, told Anadolu Agency.
“The explosion caused power outage in all of Baghdadi city,” he said urging Electricity Minister Qasim al-Fahdawi “to fix and maintain the destroyed pylons so electrical current returns back to the city.”
The power outage, according to Ebeidi “negatively affected Baghdadi residents, as the electricity was the main source to operate water stations.”
Violence in the country has surged further with the emergence of Islamic State Sunni extremist militants who proclaimed an “Islamic Caliphate” in Iraq and Syria in 2014.
IS has blown up several electricity pylons in many of Anbar cities in order to cut electricity at cities controlled by Iraqi troops and tribes.
Anbar’s western towns of Annah, Qaim and Rawa have been held by the extremist group since 2014.
Fighter jets from the Iraqi army and the international coalition have regularly pounded IS locations in the province. The Iraqi government plans a military operation to liberate those regions once it finishes its campaign to retake the city of Mosul, Islamic State’s largest stronghold in Iraq.