Syria: Damascus struggles with another fuel shortage

A driver fills his car with gasoline at a petrol station in the Syrian capital Damascus on 16 April 2019 [LOUAI BESHARA/AFP/Getty Images]

The Syrian capital Damascus is once again suffering from an acute shortage in fuel.

Local media published images of long queues at major petrol stations in Damascus reaching as far as 300 metres.

Syria suffered an acute fuel shortage last year, with the government introducing rationing for gasoline and cooking gas and long queues building at petrol stations.

At the time, Reuters reported President Bashar Al-Assad saying the crisis was part of a siege imposed by governments that oppose him, including the United States, which has imposed sanctions that broadly prohibit trade with Damascus.

However pro-government Syrian newspaper, Al-Watan, said the shortages had started after Iran halted a credit line to Damascus, since then no oil shipments had arrived.

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