Non-governmental organizations have announced that nearly all of Syria is without lights, as 83 percent of the country’s power stations no longer operate due to the four-year war that has swept through the country.
A coalition of 130 NGOs released a statement on Wednesday claiming that scientists from Chinese Wuhan University studying satellite images of Syria discovered "the number of visible lights in Syria at night has fallen by 83 percent since the start of the war in March 2011”.
The most affected region was the city of Aleppo in the north of the country with 97 percent fall in the number of lights.
Xi Lee, the author of the study, said: "the data of lights at night never tell a lie. More lights turned off means more displaced people, more destruction of the infrastructure and more power cut. The images captured from 800 km height help us understand the situation and the daily fears of ordinary Syrians".
The provinces of Damascus and Quneitra, near the Israeli border, proved less affected, with 35 percent and 47 percent, respectively, reduction of light at night.
Translated and edited by The Syrian Observer
