Baghdad's west has been cut off from the city's water network after the Islamic State group attacked an electricity pylon powering a pumping station, authorities and residents said on Saturday.
Unclaimed attacks on Iraq's electricity network have been increasing since the start of summer, at a time when the country is facing severe power shortages.
Authorities normally accuse "terrorists" of being behind the attacks, without identifying a particular group.
But the Iraqi army said in a statement Saturday that IS jihadists were behind an "attack" Friday on a pylon in Tarmiya, north of the capital.
The pylon supplies the Tarmiya pumping station which serves Karkh, the city's west and home to several million people.
Baghdad announced victory over the Islamic State jihadist group in 2017, though troops continue to fight sleeper cells.
Residents of Karkh told AFP on Saturday that water had been cut off since the day before.
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The Iraqi army on Saturday launched a military operation against the Daesh/ISIS terrorist group in the capital, Baghdad, amid attacks on power transmission towers across the country.
ReplyDeleteA statement by the Defense Ministry said members of the Special Forces, federal police and the pro-government Hashd al-Shaabi militia are taking part in the operation to track down Daesh/ISIS militants north of Baghdad.
On Friday, the Iraqi government put security forces on a state of alert following attacks targeting electric power transmission towers supplying drinking water purification plants north and west of Baghdad.
Iraqi authorities often accuse Daesh/ISIS militants of being behind the attacks, which came at a critical time due to hot summer temperatures reaching 50 degrees Celsius in some parts of the country necessitating a higher demand for electricity to operate air conditioners.
Iraq produces 19,000-21,000 megawatts of electricity.
In recent months, electricity transmission lines have been the target of attacks by suspected Daesh/ISIS militants in the provinces of Salahuddin, Diyala, and Kirkuk.
In 2017, Iraq declared victory over Daesh/ISIS by reclaiming all of its territory -- about a third of the country’s area -- invaded by the terror group in 2014.
But the terrorist movement still maintains sleeper cells in large areas of Iraq and periodically launches attacks.