Kabul residents said they face significant power shortages, with electricity supply limited to just three hours in a 24-hour period.
The Taliban-run electricity distributor, Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat or DABS, has announced that Uzbekistan has halved its electricity exports to Afghanistan due to technical issues.
Ahmad, a resident of Kabul, expressed how the power outages have disrupted daily life. “The power outage has worsened recently. We barely get two to three hours of electricity. We need a stable power supply,” he said.
Elham, another resident, shared similar difficulties: “We’re only getting about one to two hours of electricity. It’s causing a lot of problems.”
Wali, also from Kabul, highlighted the broader struggles the city faces due to these outages. The power shortages have plunged many provinces into darkness and adversely affected over 1,000 factories in Kabul.
Sakhi Ahmad Paiman, Deputy Head of the Kabul Chamber of Industry and Mines, indicated that 50 to 60 percent of factories are grappling with the power crisis. “The industrial parks in Kabul are seriously challenged by the lack of electricity. Since 70 percent of our electricity is imported, mainly from Uzbekistan, any disruption leads to a significant decrease in supply here,” he explained.
Afghanistan relies heavily on electricity imports from Central Asian countries, including Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan. Uzbekistan’s power export to Afghanistan has recently been cut from 400 megawatts to 200 megawatts.
