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Airstrike Against IS-Held Refinery in Syria Kills 30

Airstrike Against IS-Held Refinery in Syria Kills 30
Airstrike Against IS-Held Refinery in Syria Kills 30

A US-led coalition airstrike in Syria hit an oil refinery run by the Islamic State militant group near the border with Turkey on Sunday, killing 30 people, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

Rami Abdulrahman, who runs the Observatory, said the dead were refinery workers and IS militants. The targeted refinery was just northeast of the town of Tel Abyad near the Turkish border, he said, France24 reported.

IS has seized wide areas of Syria and Iraq, declaring them part of a cross-border “caliphate.” The territories it controls in northern and eastern Syria include oil-producing regions that have financed the group’s activities.

Asked about the report, a spokesman for the US Combined Joint Task Force overseeing the fight against IS, said, “When an allegation of civilian casualties caused by US or coalition forces is determined to be credible, a thorough investigation would be launched to determine the accuracy of the claim and any circumstances surrounding it.”

In November the United Nations estimated Islamic State’s revenue from oil ranged between $846,000 to $1.6 million a day.

However, the Pentagon has assessed that oil was no longer the main source of revenue for IS. Western diplomats have said this was due to airstrikes on oil installations and a plunge in global oil prices that has affected black market prices as well.

 

Financialtribune.com