Southern RP blacked out by rebels

Southern RP blacked out by rebels

PHILIPPINES: Moro separatists blacked out the southern third of
the Philippines in overnight sabotage attacks, leaving about 18
million people in the dark for hours, officials said on Thursday.

Electricity supply was restored to most of Mindanao island by
Thursday as the government fired up emergency generating stations
to temporarily replace baseload plants disabled by the toppling
of transmission pylons overnight Wednesday, they said.

Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) guerrillas blew up at
least five steel transmission towers before midnight using
improvised explosives from mortar shells on Wednesday, knocked
out the key Agus hydro-electric power complex outside this city.

No casualties were reported in the attacks, which blacked out
the key Mindanao cities of Davao, General Santos, Cagayan de Oro,
Cotabato, Butuan and Malaybalay, said Max Adiong, operations
chief for Mindanao of state-run National Power Corp. (Napocor).
--AFP