U.S. embassy in Syria accuses al-Assad of helping Islamic State

DAMASCUS, Syria, June 2 (UPI) -- The U.S. embassy in Damascus, Syria, has accused the government of President Bashar al-Assad of helping the Islamic State.

The embassy made the allegations through its verified U.S. Embassy Syria Twitter account.

The embassy accuses al-Assad's military of not targeting the Islamic State in bombings, while attempting to help the Islamist militant group's attack on the city of Aleppo.

"Reports indicate that the regime is making air-strikes in support of the [Islamic State's] advance on Aleppo, aiding extremists against Syrian population," one tweet reads.

Al-Assad has been continuously criticized for using condemnable tactics, including the use of barrel bombs on civilian populations.

Barrel bombs are crude explosive devices filled with oil or forms of shrapnel sometimes loosely dropped from high altitudes via helicopter which may cause indiscriminate damage. The Syrian military has previously denied the use of barrel bombs.

We strongly condemn the #Asad regime's latest deplorable use of barrel bombs in and around #Aleppo where at least 70 civilians were killed.

— U.S. Embassy Syria (@USEmbassySyria) June 1, 2015

"We have long seen that the [al-Assad] regime avoids [Islamic State] lines, in complete contradiction to the regime's claims to be fighting [the Islamic State]," another tweet reads.

"As we have long said, Bashar [al-Assad] lost legitimacy long ago and will never be an effective counterterrorism partner," reads another.

With these latest reports, #Asad is not only avoiding #ISIL lines, but, actively seeking to bolster their positon. #Syria

— U.S. Embassy Syria (@USEmbassySyria) June 1, 2015

More than 200,000 people have died and three million have been displaced during Syria's civil war, according to the United Nations.

Al-Assad has also been previously accused of using chemical weapons such as chlorine gas.

"The fact is that there is no better recruiting tool for [the Islamic State] than the brutality of the [al-Assad] regime," the embassy tweeted.