Electricity has been restored to at least 11 provinces of the country after they were cut off by Monday’s earthquake in the north, the Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS), the national power utility, announced.
In a statement issued Tuesday, DABS said its engineers had repaired the 220-kilovolt imported power line from Uzbekistan, which was knocked out following a 6.3 magnitude earthquake that struck northern Afghanistan on Monday. The disruption had led to widespread outages across several provinces, including the capital.
“Despite severe storms and falling debris, our technical teams worked continuously to repair and reconnect the damaged lines,” the statement read.
The power cut had affected Kabul and the provinces of Baghlan, Parwan, Panjshir, Kapisa, Logar, Paktia, Maidan Wardak, Ghazni, Laghman, and Nangarhar. DABS confirmed that with the successful restoration of the line, electricity has now returned to all the affected regions.
The blackout had added to the difficulties faced by communities already dealing with the aftermath of the earthquake, which left at least 20 people dead and hundreds injured, according to United Nations estimates.
Power infrastructure in Afghanistan remains vulnerable due to aging equipment, reliance on imports, and limited domestic capacity. Nearly 80% of Afghanistan’s electricity is imported, mainly from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Iran.
DABS said repairs to other disrupted services and infrastructure are ongoing, as assessments continue in the hardest-hit areas of Samangan and Balkh provinces.
