Beirut: Syria`s state news agency says rebels fighting to topple the government have set fire to three oil wells.
The news agency SANA said today that the fires would cause a daily loss of 4,670 barrels of oil and 52 cubic meters of natural gas.
It accused "terrorists," the government`s term for rebels, of setting the fires after fighting among themselves over how to divide the oil.
Rebels waging a civil war against President Bashar Assad have seized large areas of territory in Syria`s oil-rich east, including a number of oil fields.
Although rebels lack the ability to exploit the wells, their loss represents a setback to the cash-strapped government they are trying to topple.
SANA said rebels have set fire to a total of nine wells in recent months.
PTI
