Rebels
blast gas pipeline near Damascus causing southern Syria blackout
A gas pipeline was attacked near Damascus causing the capital and the southern part of Syria to suffer a blackout. The electricity minister blamed the blast on rebels.
"A
terrorist attack on a gas pipeline that feeds a power station in the
south has led to a power outage in the provinces, and work to repair
it is in progress," electricity minister Emad Khamis told SANA
news agency.
As
the pipeline is located near Damascus International Airport, which is
some 20 km away from the capital, a power outage also hit Damascus.
RT’s
Arabic correspondent in Syria Abutalib Albouhaya has confirmed the
power was out in the capital after the gas supply to Tashrin power
plant was cut. Albouhaya also said there were several victims near a
church in Dummar suburb of Damascus with gunfights going on in Qaboun
and Mleha suburbs as well.
It
is not immediately clear how extensive the blackout is in the rest of
the country. The minister said maintenance crews are working to
restore power. In September, a similar outage was caused after a high
voltage power line was sabotaged, AFP reports.
Media
reports say the capital city of Damascus is covered with thick smoke
and shell explosions are being heard.
"The
whole city just went dark," Reuters cited a resident who lives
in the center of the city. A woman, who asked to remain anonymous,
said she saw the "major glow of a fire" near Damascus
International Airport and heard the sound of heavy machinegun fire.
The
UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claimed the explosion
was caused by rebel artillery as they were targeting the town of
Ghasula several miles from the airport, Reuters reports. The
observatory also suggested that the attack was a pre-planned
large scale operation.
This
attack could now be used by the opposition as yet
another “justification for calling off plans for talks,
which is an exact opposite of what it is,” anti-war
activist David Swanson told RT.
“When
you are proposing to discuss an end to violence, an increase in
violence is all the more reason to proceed with all the more
deliberation to make it happen,” Swanson
said. “But
that is of course the danger as particularly the opposition side in
Syria does not want to have these talks unless unreasonable
conditions are set beforehand.”
On
Tuesday, during the Friends
of Syria group meeting in
London, Syrian opposition once again reiterated their conditions for
participation in Geneva-2 peace talks. Opposition National Coalition
chief Ahmad Jarba said that they would not attend the peace
conference unless its main objective was to remove Assad from power.
“There
will not be any negotiations at all without making sure that the
Geneva 2 meeting is basically for the transitional period and for
Assad to go," Jarba
said, adding however that his group would convene again to make a
final decision on their attendance.
Russia
and the US have been pushing to hold the Syria peace conference since
May. According to the Arab League chief, the gathering may
finally start on November 23.
However, so far no firm date has been set.
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