Kabul residents say prolonged power cuts have worsened as temperatures have risen above 30 degrees Celsius, leaving some neighborhoods with electricity for only a few hours a day and disrupting work and daily life across the capital.
Several residents said power was unavailable for much of the day and night, making it increasingly difficult for families to cope with the summer heat.
“We have no electricity, day or night, and people need power,” said Lotfullah, a Kabul resident. “What are we supposed to do in this heat? We are struggling with the heat on one hand and power outages on the other.”
Other residents described similarly lengthy outages.
“The power goes out during the day and doesn’t come back,” said Jamshid, another resident. “We don’t have electricity at night either — there’s no power, day or night.”
Residents said the outages were affecting household routines and businesses and called on the authorities to provide a more reliable electricity supply.
“Electricity is a basic need, and it should be available 24 hours a day,” said Nazifullah, a Kabul resident. He said electricity often returned in the early morning, when temperatures were cooler and demand was less acute.
Afghanistan imports a large share of its electricity from neighboring countries, leaving its power supply vulnerable to disruptions and capacity constraints. Kabul residents have repeatedly complained of extended outages during periods of high demand, particularly as temperatures rise in the summer.
The latest complaints come as residents face growing demand for cooling and other basic electricity needs. For many households in the capital, however, power remains available for only limited periods, leaving residents to endure the hottest parts of the day without electricity.
