BEIRUT / AKCAKALE, Turkey: A fuel crisis has gripped much of rebel-held northern Syria as the fasting month of Ramadan began Thursday, prompting fears of a sharp decline in food supplies and health conditions.
Anti-regime activists and rebel groups blamed ISIS militants in northern Aleppo province for cutting off supplies of gasoline and diesel and other fuel derivatives, produced from areas under their control further east and conveyed via smugglers to rebel-held areas.
They said that the cutoff gradually took effect as rebel groups launched an offensive against ISIS-controlled areas of Aleppoprovince earlier this month.
The Local Coordination Committees said the “cutoff is threatening to produce a catastrophe that could go as far as famine in some areas – there is no electricity or fuel for generators, water pumps or bakeries.”
The anti-regime Civil Defense authority in Aleppo warned earlier this week that hospitals were also in danger of seeing their activities dramatically scaled back if the fuel shortage continues. The crisis is expected to affect rebel-held parts of Latakia, Idlib and Hama provinces as well, while prices for foodstuffs have also soared.