HOMS, Syria, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- Syrian media report Thursday that "an armed terrorist group" attacked a crude oil pipeline near a refinery in the restive city of Homs.
Syria is facing international isolation for its brutal crackdown on opponents to Syrian President Bashar Assad. Assad, during an English-language interview this week with ABC News, denied he had a hand in a military response to the opposition that's left at least 4,000 dead since mid-March.
Much of the internal conflict is centered near the western city of Homs.
"An armed terrorist group on Thursday committed an act of sabotage against a crude oil transfer line in Tal Asour area to the northwest of the refinery of Homs," the official Syrian Arab News Agency reports.
Damascus slowed and eventually stopped payments to international oil companies working in the country as European governments put pressure on the Syrian government for its crackdown on opposition protesters.
Damascus blames terrorist groups and foreign interventionists for much of the unrest inside the country. The government was bringing in roughly $3.5 billion per year in oil export revenue before sanctions were imposed.
Executives at Royal Dutch Shell last week told the Financial Times they were putting a halt to Syrian operations because of the sanctions.
