A mass departure from Al-Qaim district due to power outage

Shafaq News/ Targeting the power transmission towers which nurture the Al-Qaim district, on the borders with Syria in western Iraq, caused a "massive" departure from the district due to the continuous power outage.

This step prompted the head of Al-Qaim to call the Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi called for "immediate intervention."

The Mayor, Ahmed Al-Mahlawi told Shafaq News Agency, "since the beginning of 2021, four terrorist explosions targeted the towers, and the city lives in complete darkness for long periods.”

Al-Mahlawi added, "There is a mass departure from Al-Qaim to the governorates of Kurdistan, and the other cities of Al-Anbar,” appealing to Prime Minister, “to secure protection for the power transmission towers, and to pressure on the Ministry of Electricity to finish the work at Okaz electric plant."

Hundreds of Iraqis protested in different Governorates over worsening power and water cuts as temperatures exceeded 50 degrees Celsius in some parts of Iraq.

People are criticizing the government for not providing its citizens with enough electricity.

Power went out completely across most of the country's Governorates, residents said, in some of the worst shortages this year. 

Power from Iraq's main grid suffers year-round from hours-long cuts each day, but the shortages worsen during the hot summer months when temperatures regularly reach 50 degrees and households rely on air conditioning.

Iraqis blame a government that relies on energy imports from Iran and which they say has failed to develop Iraq's own grid to serve its population. 

Iraq's electricity minister resigned under pressure over the power crisis.

Reduced power supplies from Iran this month and a series of attacks on power lines by militants have compounded the electricity crisis.