A whole region without power and in darkness for days

In the north of Syria in the al-Shahba region near the town of Tall Rifaat, there has been total darkness for days. The region has long been suffering from a blockade by the Syrian Assad regime, which was tightened again in April.

Electricity production in the region is ensured by generators. Now that the last remaining fuel for the generators has run out, the whole region has been engulfed in darkness. In the already plagued and afflicted region of al-Shahba, nothing works anymore. Telecommunications and the Internet collapsed. The population of the region made a makeshift switch to kerosene lamps and candles.

As early as April 27, political representatives in the region warned that the generators would soon stop running after the daily operating time of the generators had to be reduced to two hours on April 8. Because of the current situation and the blockade, those responsible warned of an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.

Difficult conditions have prevailed in al-Shahba for years. The region is surrounded by Turkish occupation forces, radical Islamic opposition groups, and troops from the Syrian Assad regime. The region has also become home to thousands of mostly Kurdish internally displaced people from the Turkish-occupied region of Afrin, who have to live under precarious conditions in refugee camps.

Now the districts of Sheikh Maqsoud and al-Ashrafiyyah in Aleppo, which are mainly inhabited by Kurds, also have to ration the power supply to two hours a day after the Assad regime tightened the blockade here too.