DAMASCUS, Syria (AFP) — Syrian student Ziad al-Ezz can no longer get to university as severe fuel shortages cripple the capital Damascus, pushing residents to seek alternatives for heating and shuttering businesses.

With the country's economy battered by more than a decade of war, authorities have announced four fuel price hikes since the start of the year as well as rationing of petrol and fuel oil supplies.

"Our struggle for fuel starts at home and doesn't end" in the classroom, Ezz, 20, who studies literature at the University of Damascus, said.

"At home it's extremely cold without heating, and on the street it's not easy to find transport."

In a city where winter can be bitterly cold, the price of heating fuel has gone through the roof, so his mother has told him to make do with piling on layers of covers for warmth.

Syria blames the fuel shortages on Western sanctions that severely restrict imports, and the country's major oil fields lie in areas outside government control.