Millions without electricity in Afghanistan after the bombing of two transmission towers

Millions of people were left without power in

on Saturday after the shelling of two power transmission towers west of the capital

, according to authorities.

The blackout comes just before the

holiday , which marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Two high-voltage pylons in

province were bombed late on Friday, leaving the capital and neighboring provinces without power.

"The enemies ... attacked two high-voltage towers with bombs,"

, a spokesman for the state-owned electricity company

, said in a video statement.

"The pylons are installed on top of the mountains and our teams are trying to fix them," he added.

Police reported that they had arrested two people for the explosions.

In

, a city of some five million people, residents started turning on private generators to ensure electricity supply ahead of the Eid celebrations.

Usual target of Islamists

Afghanistan relies heavily on electricity imported from its northern neighbors

and

, making power lines running through the country a prime target for insurgents.

During the 20-year war between the Taliban and the former US-backed Afghan government

authorities in

regularly accused Islamists of attacking transmission towers.

However, since taking power, the Taliban have faced attacks from the

(

) jihadist group.

The IS claimed responsibility for several bloody attacks against minority Shiite and Sufi communities in the last two weeks, in which dozens of civilians have died.

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