Syria Plunged Into Darkness By Unexplained Nationwide Power Blackout

War-torn Syria was hit Thursday by a nationwide power cut, state television reported, but the cause was not immediately known.

“The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.” Isaiah 17:1 (KJV)

“Electricity has been cut across all provinces and teams are trying to determine the reason for this unexpected cut,” the station reported, citing a source within the electricity ministry. Damascus residents said power in the capital had been out since 1:00 pm (1100 GMT) and that mobile Internet connections from some private providers were also not working.

Syria: Drone captures devastated Damascus suburb

Drone footage captured the devastation to the infrastructure on Damascus’ outskirts, with images of the severely damaged buildings in the Syrian capital’s Jobar district released on Tuesday. Footage shows the ghost-like area of the capital and the buildings destroyed by shelling, with only a few frameworks left standing. The Syrian Arab Army recently kicked off an operation to expand control over the Damascus suburb as government forces continue to make gains in the Syrian conflict. Jobar, once an historical village on the outskirts of Damascus, it is now a suburb of the capital city. Today the district lies in ruins due to ongoing battles between anti-government militant groups and regular Syrian Arab Army troops.

Syria’s state mobile provider said its Internet service had been “partially cut due to part of the network unexpectedly malfunctioning”.

Since Syria’s conflict erupted in March 2011, various areas across the country have experienced intermittent power outages as a result of clashes or air strikes and many regularly rely on generators for power.

Syria’s parliament had on Monday called in electricity minister Imad Khamis for a special hearing on the power sector.

Khamis told parliamentarians that the cost of “direct damage” to the country’s power stations and the electricity network from 2011 until the end of 2015 was estimated $3.75 billion.

In statements carried by Syria’s state news agency SANA, Khamis said five out of the 13 main power stations in Syria had been “directly damaged” in the war.

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