Syrian Minister of Electricity Imad Khamis said the sabotage attack was carried out on Thursday and caused power cuts in the provinces of Dara’a, Sweida, Quneitra, Damascus and Rif Dimashq, SANA reported.

Khamis said repair teams from the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources would immediately start repair work at the site, adding that about 20 percent of the region's need for electricity was ensured.

Anti-government forces have been blowing up gas and oil pipelines across the country since the breakout of violence in 2011.

In May 2012, armed gangs set on fire an oil pipeline belonging to al-Furat Oil Company in the eastern city of Deir ez-Zor, which is located some 420 kilometers (262 miles) northeast of the capital, Damascus.

On October 18, militants attacked two oil and gas pipelines running between Deir ez-Zor and the city of Palmyra in central Syria.

Militants also blew up a section of a gas pipeline near Deir ez-Zor, which resulted in the loss of some 1.5 million cubic meters of natural gas.

The Syria crisis started in March 2011, when pro-reform protests turned into a massive insurgency following intervention of western and regional states.

The unrest, which took in terrorist groups from across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, has transpired as one of the bloodiest conflicts in recent history.

As the foreign-backed insurgency in Syria continues without an end in sight, the US government boosts its political and military support to Takfiri extremists.

Washington has remained indifferent about warnings by Russia and other world powers about the consequences of arming militant groups.

SHI/SHI