Pylons yet to be fixed; security forces zero in on rebel bases

KABUL/PUL-I-KHUMRI (Pajhwok): The Ministry of Interior (MoI) on Wednesday said the Dand-i-Shahabuddin area of northern Baghlan province, where power pylons were blown up, had been cleared of the insurgents.

MoI spokesman Seddiq Seddiqi wrote on his Facebook account special police units and Afghan National Army (ANA) commandos had purged the on the outskirts of Pul-i-Khumri, paving the ground for repairing the power pylons.

Taliban have already promised allowing the repair of the power transmission line if an ongoing operation in Dand-i-Ghori is stopped.Some reports say a second pylon was also recently destroyed in the area.

Residents of Kabul, heavily reliant on electricity imported from Turkmenistan, have suffered a lot due to the resultant blackout. The pylon were blown up the pylon on the outskirts of Pul-i-Khumri nearly two weeks back.

Baghlan police spokesman, Zabihullah Shuja, told Pajhwok Afghan News the area was under security forces’ control, but the militants were still firing at them from remote ‘bases.

He said sporadic clashes were still underway in Dand-i-Shahabuddin, but police and commandos were closing in on the rebels. Efforts were underway to facilitate the early repair of the pylons, Shuja added.

A day earlier, ABS spokesman Wahidullah Tawhidi told Pajhwok their technical team was only 200 metres from the location in northern Baghlan province where the pylons were blown up by the insurgents.

Ahmad Javed, a resident of the Wazghari village of Dand-i-Shahabuddin area, said the militants had left the area, which was currently being controlled by security forces.

Government officials accused the Taliban of destroying the pylons, while the rebels denied the allegation and said the towers had been hit by rockets fired Afghan forces.

On the other hand, Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid claimed thefighters had inflicted 19 casualties on soldiers and destroyed three tanks in Dand-i-Shahabuddin.He said two militants were also injured.

mds/mud