According to reports from RFERL’s Radio Free Afghanistan, hundreds of insurgents had reportedly gathered in the project area early this week to attack the dam. The area was secured following a pre-dawn air strike yesterday, with a senior Taliban commander among the several insurgents killed.
The operation – named Operation Kryptonite – was necessary to allow repairs to the project’s power plant and accompanying transmission lines to go ahead. NATO-led forces have been conducting a number of other operations in the area over recent months to allow engineers to visit the site and begin reconstruction work.
Once work is complete, the plant, which has a capacity of 33MW, is expected to provide electricity to 1.8M people in the country.
