DUMAIR – An explosion hit an oil pipeline in a Damascus suburb early Monday, causing a massive chimney and cutting off electricity in Syria, state media reported, exposing the country’s oil and power ministers.
Meanwhile, the UN-led talks in Geneva, adding that the Syrian government, the opposition and civil society have been put “on hold” after 3 delegates tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.
Oil Minister Ali Ghanem said the explosion hit the line forcing materials to force plants into southern Syria, and called the incident a “cowardly act of terrorism. “Ghanem spoke to journalists who recorded the explosion near the suburb of Dumair, northeast of the capital.
Syria’s oil and fuel infrastructure has been affected in years by acts of sabotage, yet no one has claimed such attacks. The nine-year civil war, which killed more than 400,000 people, has also severely affected oil and fuel fields, many of whom are out of government control.
State news firm SANA quoted Electricity Minister Zuhair Kharbotli as saying that the “Arab pipeline” explosion occurred after Sunday between the northeast suburbs of Adra and Dumair. Damascus.
He said it’s the sixth time the pipeline has been affected. Technicians are working to repair the disorders and electricity is expected to be restored in the coming hours, he said.
Ghanem, the oil minister, said the pipeline has been attacked six times in this same desert domain in recent years. He said he was pumping about 7 million cubic meters of herbal fuel to force plants supplying electricity to much of Syria.
The US envoy for Syria, James Jeffrey, said the attack was “almost in fact an attack” through the Islamic State group. The extremists were driven from the last piece of territory under their command in Syria last year, but sleeper cells continue to emerge. sporadic attacks.
Jeffrey said there had been an increase in IS activity in the desert spaces of eastern and southeastern Syria near the border with Jordan and Iraq.
The US envoy was in Geneva for the start of the UN-mediated talks that involved the Syrian government, the opposition and civil society. They had planned to discuss a new constitution imaginable, part of a procedure that has so far produced few concrete results.
Talks were suspended a few hours after the geneva meetings began, according to the workplace of UN envoy Geir Pedersen. It said that the 3 delegations had embarked on a “first constructive meeting” before the suspension of the talks.
IS militants have claimed their duty in the attacks in recent months that have killed dozens of governments, as well as members of the Kurdish-led and US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.
In December, near-simultaneous drone strikes allegedly hit 3 government-run oil and fuel facilities in central Syria. One of the attacks targeted the oil refinery in the central city of Homs.
In January, underwater bombs exploded off the coast of Syria and oil services were used to pump oil into one of the country’s two oil refineries.
Syria has suffered fuel shortages since last year, Western sanctions have blocked imports, while most of Syria’s oil fields are controlled by Kurdish-led fighters in the east of the country.
Information Minister Imad Sara said the target of the attacks is to pressure government supporters to ask the state to make concessions to its rivals. He added that “what has not been taken out of the war is not going to be taken out of discussion or explosions. “
———
Associated Press Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed to the report.
24/7 policy of the latest news and events