Syria fuel shortages, worsened by US sanctions, spark anger

BEIRUT – Syrians in government-controlled areas who have survived eight years of war now face a new scourge: widespread fuel shortages that have brought life to a halt in major cities.

Cars line up by the hundreds outside petrol stations, and long lines of people waiting to buy rationed cooking gas begin forming before dawn. Taxi drivers are crossing the border to Lebanon to stock up on fuel — and then doubling their rates. Drivers can be seen pulling over because their tanks are empty.

The shortages are largely the result of Western sanctions on Syria and renewed U.S. sanctions on Iran, a key ally. But they have sparked rare public criticism of President Bashar Assad’s government just as he has largely succeeded in quashing the eight-year rebellion against his rule.