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Daesh claims responsibility for attack on Syrian gas pipeline

The file photo shows flames rising from a gas line explosion outside Damascus, Syria, on August 24, 2020. (By AP)

The Daesh terrorist group has claimed responsibility for a recent attack on a major natural gas pipeline southeast of the Syrian capital that led to power outages in the city and surrounding areas.

The group said in a statement on Saturday that its fighters "were able to plant and detonate explosives on the gas pipeline feeding the Tishreen and Deir Ali plants.”

Ghassan al-Zamel, the Syrian electricity minister, told the official SANA news agency that the Friday attack with explosive devices on the Deir Ali station had caused the station to go out of service temporarily.

Zamel added that the outage in Deir Ali station, which generates half of Syria's power, affected several other stations and led to blackouts in Damascus as well as its outskirts before power was later restored.

The Syrian Ministry of Oil announced on Saturday that the gas pipeline at the Deir Ali station has “returned to operation after completion of repairs.”

Daesh has already been driven out of all its urban bastions both in Iraq and Syria, but the group’s remnants carry out sporadic terror attacks in both Arab countries.

Syria's gas and oil infrastructure have been among the targets of foreign-backed militants and terrorist outfits fighting the government in Damascus since 2011.

The US military has stationed forces and equipment in eastern and northeastern Syria, with the Pentagon claiming that the deployment is aimed at preventing the oilfields in the area from falling into the hands of Daesh terrorists.

Damascus, however, says the unlawful deployment is meant to plunder the country’s resources.

Former US president Donald Trump admitted on several occasions that American forces were in Syria for its oil.

The US and its allies have been conducting airstrikes against what they claim to be Daesh positions inside Syria since September 2014 without any authorization from Damascus or a UN mandate.

Moreover, there have been several reports showing Washington's direct or indirect support through its regional allies for the terrorist group over the past years.

Numerous accounts have emerged alleging airlifts, weapon airdrops, and aerial support for the Takfiri outfit, especially as its strength diminished in Syria and Iraq.


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