Syria accuses Turkey-backed rebels of dismantling, selling electricity station

The Syrian government on Tuesday accused the Turkey-backed rebels in northern Syria of dismantling a key electricity station, and moving its parts and components into Turkey, according to the state news agency SANA.

The Turkey-backed Ahrar al-Sham Movement, and the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front have plundered the components of the Zayzun Thermal Station for Generating Electricity in the countryside of the northwestern province of Idlib, smuggling them into the Turkish territories, said SANA.

SANA said the terror groups must have had external help from experts, as dismantling the components of the thermal station couldn't be done by normal people with no concerned knowledge.

The report said the authorities evacuated the station last year after repetitive attacks by the Nusra and Ahrar al-Sham.

The station used to feed hundreds of thousands of Syrian homes in the provinces of Latakia, Tartus and Hama with electricity.

Meanwhile, a source at the Ministry of Electricity was cited by SANA as saying that the rebels have opted to sabotage the infra-structure in Syria over the past years of crisis, to hit the economy of the war-torn country.

It added that the rebels, using high-tech machinery, have started stealing the components of the station of Zayzun a couple of months ago.

It said the current cost of the station is half a billion U.S. dollar.

The national TV went on to accuse the administration of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of being responsible for the plundering of the station and other Syrian factories in northern Syria, mainly in the northern province of Aleppo, near Turkey.

The Syrian government repeatedly blamed the conflict on the Turkish support to the rebel groups in Syria. Endit