Syria station outage knocks out power to several cities

A malfunction at a Syrian power station has caused electrical outages in several provinces across the country, electricity minister Imad Khamis told state news agency SANA on Monday.

“Power supply is down in several provinces in the center, south and coastal regions of the country as a result of a malfunction at a power plant,” SANA quoted Khamis as saying.

It was unclear where the affected power station was, or what had caused the malfunction.

The outage affected cities including the capital Damascus.

“Maintenance and repair teams in the ministry are working to fix the problem and restore power,” Khamis added.

Syria has regularly experienced major blackouts since the beginning of an uprising against President Bashar al-Assad's regime in March 2011.

Last month, large swathes of the country were left without electricity after a high voltage power line in the center of the country was sabotaged, according to Khamis.

In parts of Syria controlled by rebels, the electricity supply is erratic or even non-existent.