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Damascus faces continual power outages

Power outages in Damascus are unbearable, yet the government just directs blame at the opposition, failing to provide solutions.
Residents warm themselves by a fire on New Year's Eve in eastern al-Ghouta, near Damascus December 31, 2014. Residents have been facing an electricity blackout for 2 years, activists said. Picture taken December 31, 2014. REUTERS/Bassam Khabieh (SYRIA - Tags: SOCIETY) - RTR4JSA6
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DAMASCUS, Syria — Homework and house chores are no longer the daily duties of Ammar, a high school student who hopes to one day attend medical school. Recurring electricity outages up to 15 hours a day are maddening in his neighborhood of Jaramana, about 9 kilometers (5.5 miles) northeast of Damascus. The city sits in total darkness at night, further compounding the opposition's daily shelling.

Nights in Jaramana and Damascus and its countryside are no longer glamorous as they were before the war. Damascus is now divided along sectarian, military and administrative lines, though all these areas share the constant power outages, whose duration depends on the proximity to the city center, wealthy areas and police centers. Power outages can also depend on the mood of electricity workers; some areas in the countryside are without electricity for days or weeks.

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