DAMASCUS, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. forces have stolen 398 tankers of Syrian oil since Thursday and sent them to its bases in Iraq, Syrian state news agency SANA reported on Tuesday.
SANA reported tha the U.S. sent 65 oil tankers from Syria to Iraq on Tuesday through the al-Mahmoudiyeh crossing, an illegal route established to send oil tankers from Syria into Iraq.
Recently, the U.S. is sending oil tankers into Iraq on daily basis from Syria's northeastern province of Hasakah, it added.
The U.S. forces, which have taken control of key oil and gas fields in Hasakah with the help of local Kurdish rebels, regularly smuggle the fuels out of Syria.
On Saturday and Thursday, a convoy of 89 and 144 tankers respectively loaded with stolen oil was sent to the U.S. bases in Iraq through the same crossing, it added.
The incident is part of America's ongoing violations of international principles and their involvement in plundering the natural resources of other nations and starving their peoples, noted SANA.
The Syrian government has accused the U.S. of stealing the natural resources in Syria, such as oil, gas, and wheat.
On Aug. 8, the Syrian Oil Ministry said in a statement that the U.S. and its mercenaries are stealing an average of 66,000 barrels of oil per day in Syria, about 80 percent of Syria's oil production.
The prolonged crisis has cost Syria's oil industry direct and indirect losses of 105 billion U.S. dollars, according to the statement. ■
