‘Militants set oil wells ablaze in Syria’

Foreign-backed militants in Syria have set several oil wells ablaze in the east of the country, an official source at the Syrian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources says.

“Armed terrorist groups” set three oil wells on fire in the province of Deir el-Zour after disputes among themselves over “sharing out the stolen oil,” SANA news agency quoted the source as saying on Sunday.

The source added that Syria's main oil producer -- Al-Furat Petroleum Company -- was working to put out the three fires.

A total of nine wells had been set on fire by the militants but six of these wells have been already put out, the source stated without elaborating on when the other six had been set ablaze.

The fire on the three oil wells, which are still ablaze, caused a daily loss of about 5,000 barrels of oil and 52,000 cubic meters of gas.

No group has claimed responsibility for the incident, but the Syrian government has accused the armed opposition groups of carrying out such attacks.

Earlier in the day, a bomb targeting a car in the capital left its driver dead and two others injured. Several nearby vehicles were also damaged.

This came after foreign-sponsored militants fighting against the Syrian government had killed at least 10 people in the province of Homs.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011. Many people, including large numbers of Army and security personnel, have been killed in the violence.

The Syrian government has said that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and that a very large number of the militants operating in the country are foreign nationals.

Several international human rights organizations have accused foreign-sponsored militants of committing war crimes.

Source http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/04/01/295985/militants-set-oil-wells-ablaze-in-syria/