Amid growing conflict over oil business | Grand fire breaks out in Homs oil refinery and fire brigades fail to control the situation
Homs province: Fire brigades in Homs, civil defence forces, military units and civil teams are still attempting to extinguish the fire which broke out in the 100th Unit in Homs oil refinery for over an hour. According to SOHR sources grand fire and heavy flames are seen in the refinery. However, no casualties have been reported.
It is worth noting that attacks on oil institutions and oil trucks have escalated since early 2024, specifically after “Al-Rajoub” company having managed to obtain a share of allocations of transporting oil, which had obtained exclusively by “Al-Qaterji” company. This coincides with the growing conflict between the two companies, especially after “Mo’ayad Al-Rajoub” had refused to sell vehicles and trucks belonging to his company to “Al-Qaterji” company.
On April 21, SOHR sources reported that a huge fire broke out in one of the crude oil transmission lines, east of Al-Farqalus town in the eastern countryside of Homs. A mutilated body belonging to an unknown person was also found near the location of the fire, along with a tank, equipment and tools that were equipped to extract oil, suggesting an attempt by a group of people to steal oil after the line was punctured, which led to the outbreak of the fire. Military Intelligence is deployed in the area of Al-Farqalus.
While on April 17, unidentified people planted an IED on the road leading to the main square of “gathering of convoys of fuel” that belong to “Moaiad Al-Rajoob” who is affiliated to the regime, in Al-Mashrafa City in north eastern Homs countryside amid a state of security tension and cutting of roads leading to the city and the road between Homs and Salmiyah by members of the Military Intelligence Department, where the IED was dismantled and exploded.
According to reliable SOHR sources, the IED was planted to target a fuel convoy of “Moaiad Al-Rajoob” while the convoy was coming from Wady Ebaid Field to the refinery of Homs.