Syria Denies Targeting Civilians As Crude Barrel Bombs Fall On Cities
The U.S. State Department said on Wednesday 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," the state news agency SANA quoted Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi as saying late on Thursday.
He said Washington was getting its information from "terrorist organizations" operating in Syria such as Islamic State and al Qaeda's Nusra Front.
Throughout 2014, Syrian military helicopters have been dropping steel barrels packed with explosives and shrapnel out of the back of helicopters on rebel-held areas of Syria.
Tuesday's government strikes on the northern Raqqa province killed 95 civilians, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Raqqa province is the stronghold of Islamic State, a hardline al Qaeda offshoot which has seized land in Syria and neighboring Iraq.
Both the Syrian air force and U.S.-led forces are bombing Syria in separate air campaigns and both say they are targeting 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 (Islamic State) organization 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 - two journalists and an aid worker - have been beheaded by Islamic State.
Zoubi said the U.S. statement on Wednesday had ignored crimes committed by Islamic State, adding that Syria was more committed to its people than countries which send money and weapons to "terrorists" and train them.
The United States 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.
The government of President Bashar al-Assad has characterized all opponents of his rule as extremists.
"Everyone has to choose between two options - either you are with terrorism, Daesh, Nusra Front and others or you are countering terrorism," Zoubi said.
The United Nations estimates that some 200,000 people have been killed in Syria's civil war since 2011, though activists say the real figure is much higher.
(Reporting by Sylvia Westall; Editing by Gareth Jones)