Water has begun flowing again in Bamako after days of severe disruption triggered by sabotage on a key high-voltage power line, a failure that plunged much of the Malian capital into darkness and cut off tap water for hundreds of thousands of residents.

The crisis began when the line carrying electricity from the Manantali Dam, on the Senegal-Mauritania border, was deliberately damaged, according to Mali’s national drinking water utility, SOMAGEP. The loss of power crippled pumping stations and treatment plants that depend on the national grid, leaving taps dry across large swathes of the city.

Without electricity, many households and public institutions were forced to rely on solar-powered boreholes and improvised water sources. At Bamako District Hospital, staff said they had no option but to give patients water drawn from the hospital’s borehole, normally reserved for cleaning and hygiene.

“With the taps dry for two days, what choice did we have? Not everyone can afford bottled water,” a hospital official said, adding that staff urged patients and families to disinfect the water before drinking it. “Fortunately, we advised everyone to add bleach, which spared us from further problems.”

SOMAGEP said it has now secured sufficient fuel to run backup generators and restart key installations, allowing water distribution to resume in most neighborhoods. However, the wider electrical grid remains fragile, and authorities have warned that further outages cannot be ruled out while repairs continue on the damaged transmission line.

The sabotage comes against the backdrop of Mali’s protracted security crisis. Al Qaeda-linked jihadist groups have intensified pressure on the capital by blockading strategic roads and targeting infrastructure, seeking to undermine the state’s authority and deepen public frustration.

Since 2012, Mali has struggled with overlapping insurgencies involving jihadist factions, armed militias and separatist movements, particularly in the north and center of the country. Attacks on power lines, bridges and supply routes have become a hallmark of the conflict, with civilians bearing the brunt of the disruption.

In Bamako, the return of running water has brought some relief, but residents remain anxious. Many have begun storing water and investing in small solar systems where possible, bracing for the possibility that the next attack on the grid could once again leave the city dry and in the dark.