KABUL, Nov 20: Afghan police arrested several people and seized a large quantity of explosives on Monday night in what was believed to be an attempt to destroy a power plant near Kabul, it was revealed on Wednesday.

Kabul Radio said an undisclosed number of people were found trying to plant 45 kilograms of explosives at a hydroelectric plant east of the capital.

The report described the would-be attackers as “terrorists” who were attempting to destabilize the government by showing its inability to prevent an assault on the capital’s already feeble electricity supply.

A spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which patrols Kabul, said the discovery was made on Monday in the generator room of the power station.

Major Mike Edwards said ISAF was not involved in the incident but confirmed reports had been received from Afghan police indicating that at least 25 kilograms of explosives had been found. He said there were no details of any arrests.

In a separate incident in the capital, four “pressure bombs” were discovered by police, Kabul Radio said.

Kabul was hit by a series of bomb attacks earlier this year, culminating in a massive blast on Sept 5 in which 30 people were killed.

But there have been no major security incidents in the city since an explosion in late September near the US embassy just hours before the arrival of a senior Pentagon official.

Intelligence officials said the bombs were the work of Taliban and Al Qaeda diehards or followers of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar’s Hezb-i-Islami. Despite the explosions, the Afghan government last month declared Kabul safe enough to scrap a night curfew which had been in place for the past 23 years. —AFP