Militant attack plunges pakistan into darkness

Some 140 million people were left without electricity after militants knocked out the national grid.

15:53 26 January 2015

Pakistan plunged into darkness in the early hours of Sunday after a transmission line connected to the national grid was knocked out in an explosion. Up to 80per cent of the population or about 140 million people were left without power.

The power failure, which is one of the worst in Pakistan, was blamed on separatist group in the Baluchistan province in the country’s southwest.

By mid-morning on Sunday, the power has been restored to roughly half of the country.

"The fault in the system was caused by a main transmission line being blown up in Baluchistan," water and power minister AbidSher Ali said.

A spokesman added: "The blowing up of two power pylons in Naseerabad... created a backward surge which affected the system. It was an act of sabotage.

Muhammad YounusDagha, an official at Pakistan's water and power ministry has confirmed that the electricity grid in Baluchistan, the country’s largest but least developed province, has been attacked three times in the last two weeks.

Prime Minister Nawaz Shariff has cancelled his trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos to deal with the energy crisis as well as petrol shortage.