Angered by lengthy and unpredictable power cuts, armed groups in Tripoli are using force to divert electricity to their own neighbourhoods, breaching one of the final taboos of national belonging as they do so. On two occasions these attacks have obliged the Man-Made River (MMR) to stop pumping, depriving the capital city of water for several days each time.Throughout the summer, outages caused either by armed intervention or the failure of poorly maintained equipment have become an almost daily occurrence.