Governmental sources speak of unspecified “fault”. Others speak of a jihadist attack on Al-Zara power station, in the Hama province. Technicians working since yesterday to resolve the problem. Five years of conflict have caused damage to 3.75 billion US $ to the energy sector.
Damascus (AsiaNews / Agencies) – Yesterday’s massive blackout in Syria that left the entire country without electricity for most of the day seems to be resolved. Today, the situation is almost close to normal. Government sources report that the interruption was caused by an unspecified “fault”.
Internet connections across most of the territory were interrupted. However, initial reports indicate that there is no link between the two outages.
The blackout began in the early hours of yesterday, when a power failure caused a first interruption; the blackout spread during the morning, to all provinces of the country.
The technicians immediately intervened to restore service. Official sources said that by midnight services would be resumed throughout the country; however work continued into today to solve the problem.
Moreover, cuts in the electricity supply is a recurring element in Syria, a nation battered by five years of conflict that has so far caused over 270 thousand deaths and millions of displaced persons, creating a humanitarian crisis of unprecedented proportions. And in many areas people use diesel generators to ensure - at least for a few hours - energy.
In the past the government in Damascus had accused rebel groups and jihadis militias of attacking the power plants. Unofficial sources say that yesterday’s blackout was the result of an attack by militants on the power plant of Al-Zara, located in the province of Hama. In the assault generators were destroyed.
However, the causes that led to a complete power cut throughout the whole territory yesterday are still unknown.
It should also be pointed out that, in recent days, the Syrian Parliament had met to discuss the energy issue. The Energy Minister Imad Khamis said that the cost of "direct damage" caused by the conflict in the area between 2011 and the end of 2015 is 3.75 billion dollars. He further added that at least five of the nation’s 13 main power stations have been damaged by the war.