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Activists say airstrike hits Islamic State-held oil refinery

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AP Beirut
Activists say airstrikes by a US-led coalition hit a Syrian oil refinery held by the Islamic State group.

Activists say the strikes late last night targeted a refinery near the Turkish-Syrian border outside the town of Tel Abyad.

Video from the Turkish Dogan News Agency showed the strikes, which saw an enormous fireball engulf the refinery.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights estimated the strikes killed about 30 people. The Syrian activist group Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently also reported the strike, but offered no casualty figure.

The Islamic State group, which controls about a third of Syria and Iraq, sells black-market oil to fund its conquests.
 

The US-led coalition did not immediately acknowledge launching the strike.

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First Published: Mar 09 2015 | 3:22 PM IST

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