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Syria accuses US-led coalition of targeting infrastructure facilities

Xinhua, December 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

Syria's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday charged that the U.S.-led anti-terror coalition has launched tens of airstrikes on Syrian infrastructure, noting that Damascus reserves its right to demand compensation, according to the state news agency SANA.

"The coalition's shelling of the economic facilities and infrastructure are the reason behind the mounting difficult conditions Syria is passing through," the ministry said, adding that the coalition should have struck the positions of the Islamic State (IS) positions instead of the infrastructure.

In light of this "deliberate destruction" of the oil and economic establishments, the ministry said, the Syrian Arab Republic reserves its right in demanding the U.S.-led coalition's countries to pay compensations to Syria in return for this destruction in accordance with the international law.

The ministry noted that the coalition struck oil and gas fields in the country's eastern province of Deir al-Zour earlier this month, causing losses estimated at hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars.

The accusation is the latest in a series of charges the Syrian government has pressed against the U.S. coalition.

Meanwhile, the ministry highlighted the issue of the smuggling of the Syrian oil from Syrian territories to Turkey.

The U.S.-led coalition has been striking IS positions in Syria for over a year, with government officials slamming the strikes as lacking seriousness and ineffective.

At the same time, government officials hail the Russian airstrikes, which have started against IS in Syria two months ago, as serious and effective in curbing the expansion of the terrorist groups in the conflict-torn country. Endit