US, Syria tie weakens

Syria: Syria rejected as ‘fabricated’ the US accusations that its forces are targeting civilians with air strikes and said Washington would do better to criticise hardline Islamic State militants who have killed American citizens, Reuters reported. The US State Department said on Wednesday that it was “horrified” by Syrian government bombings in Raqqa province which it said had killed “dozens of civilians and demolished residential areas”.

“The Syrian Arab Army does not target civilians and will not do so,” state news agency SANA quoted Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi  on Thursday. He said Washington got its information from “terrorist organisations” in Syria such as IS and al Qaeda’s Nusra Front.Tuesday’s government strikes on the northern province killed 95 civilians, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Raqqa is the stronghold of Islamic State, a hardline al Qaeda offshoot which has seized land in Syria and Iraq.

Both the Syrian military and U.S.-led forces are bombing Syrian targets in separate campaigns and both say they are pursuing militant groups. “The U.S. State Department should rather have shown respect for the souls of American victims at the hands of terrorists from the Daesh (IS organisation) and not directed fabricated accusations towards the Syrian state which has been facing terrorism for years,” Zoubi was quoted by SANA as  saying. Three U.S. civilians have been beheaded by IS. The US has backed anti-government rebels and wants to train and equip some to counter Islamic State. Qatar has been running a camp for rebels, sources say.