IS rocket fire damages key gas plant in central Syria

The Islamic State (IS) group fired several rockets on two gas plants in the central province of Homs on Saturday, rendering the gas production out of service, state news agency SANA reported.

The IS militants fired the rockets from mountains near the ancient city of Palmyra against the Ebla gas factory and the al-Janub factory in the Furqlus area in the eastern countryside of Homs, said the report.

The attack rendered the al-Janub out of service, it said, adding that the Ebla gas factory suffered property losses and damages in the machines.

The Electricity Minister Zuhair Kharbutli said that heavy shelling has targeted al-Janub factory, adding that the factory used to produce six million cubic meters of gas, which helps producing 1,100 megawatt of electricity to the central and southern region.

With the attack damaging the factory, a total of 65 percent of the electricity generating power has been lost, the minister said.

He noted that the electricity rationing hours will largely increase.

Kharbutli pointed out to a wide-scale coordination currently taking place between the ministries of electricity and oil to increase the imports of fuel to elevate the capacity of the electricity generators to meet the minimum requirements of the electricity needs.

It's worth mentioning that IS and other rebel groups have repeatedly targeted power plants in Syria, causing massive blackouts and long hours of outages.

In the majority of the Damascus neighborhoods, residents receive the electricity an hour every five hours, which added to the burdens of the war-weary Syrians, who have been suffering from the six-year-old war in their country.

The attack on the power plants came in tandem with a deadly suicide bombings carried out by six bombers against two intelligence headquarters in Homs earlier on Saturday, which left over 42 people killed and tens of others wounded. Endit