BEIRUT, Oct 23, 2021 (BSS/AFP) - The Islamic State militant group's Afghan

branch on Friday said it was behind an explosion that brought down
electricity lines and plunged Kabul into darkness.

  The power cut on Thursday was a further blow to Taliban efforts to
stabilise Afghanistan two months after they seized control.

  In a statement published on its Telegram channels, Islamic State-Khorasan
(IS-K) said "the soldiers of the caliphate detonated a bomb on an electricity
pylon in Kabul" to damage the electricity sector.

  The explosion hit a high-voltage line supplying imported power to Kabul and
some other provinces.

  Afghanistan is largely reliant on electricity imported from its northern
neighbours Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, making cross-country power lines a
prime target for insurgents.

  The Taliban has promised to fight IS-K but the group has continued to carry
out devastating atrocities.

  Earlier this week, IS-K said it was behind a suicide bombing of a Shiite
mosque in the southern city of Kandahar on October 15 that killed 60 people.