Air strikes hit makeshift refineries in Syria: monitoring group

Credit: Reuters/Abdalghne Karoof

1 of 3. A gas mask is seen at a damaged base of the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, that was targeted by what activists said were U.S.-led air strikes in Reef al-Mohandeseen al-Thani in Aleppo September 27, 2014.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the attacks occurred shortly after midnight, adding that they also hit a plastic factory.

Islamic State fighters have control over oil produced in eastern Syria and have set up small, makeshift refineries to distil the crude into fuel, one of their main sources of income.

'These so-called refineries are not a real target and they do not weaken the Islamic State as they do not have any financial value for them,' Rami Abdelrahman of the Observatory told Reuters.

'They are composed of trucks with equipment to separate diesel and petrol used by civilians.'

‮‮‮‮The United States has been carrying out strikes in Iraq since Aug. 8 and in Syria, with the help of Arab allies, since Tuesday, in a campaign it says is aimed at 'degrading and destroying' the Islamist militants who have captured swathes of both countrie‬‬‬‬s.

But the impact of the strikes on the group's capabilities was not immediately clear. IS has gained sympathy from many Islamists after the attacks, including from rival groups.

Scores of fighters have left al-Qaeda's Nusra Front and other Islamist groups in Syria to join IS since the strikes started.

The Nusra Front is coming under increasing pressure from its own members to reconcile with IS to fight what they describe as a 'crusader' campaign against Islam.

On Saturday, the group gave its first reaction to the strikes, vowing to retaliate against Western and Arab countries that took part in the coalition.

'It's not a war against Nusra Front, it's a war against Islam,' Nusra spokesman Abu Frias al-Suri said in an audio message published on the group's social media network.

'These countries have done a despicable act that will put them on the list of those targeted by jihadist forces all over the world,' the spokesman said.

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(Reporting by Mariam Karouny; Editing by Dale Hudson)