With Syrian opposition forces bringing the fighting ever closer to the capital Damascus and its international airport, there are increasing signs that the economy is beginning to fail and the government is unable to provide the necessary services and utilities for its own people.
Last week Damascus faced the worst power cuts since the beginning of the revolt in March 2011, with reported outages of seven to nine hours per day. Officials from the ministry of electricity have blamed the power shortages on “sabotage by armed terrorists,” who have attacked the high voltage towers feeding the southern districts of Damascus. The Minister of Electricity, ‘Imad Khamis, said last month that about 1,500mw of power was lost because of sabotage and that work was underway to repair the damage. (CONTINUED - 719 WORDS)
