A spokesman for the charity Hand in Hand for Syria, which runs its own hospitals and supplies more than 100 medical facilities across the war-ravaged country, said there were concerns that air strikes could worsen an already 'horrendous' humanitarian crisis.
The US military launched a wave of air strikes against the Islamist insurgents who have taken over swathes of territory in Syria and neighbouring Iraq on Tuesday. On Friday MPs voted to let British forces take part in the aerial campaign against the group in Iraq.
A number of oil fields and refineries have been hit as the American-led military coalition seeks to target key sources of fuel and funding for the Islamic State (IS) extremists.
IS is believed to control six out of Syria's 10 oil fields. The group uses mobile refineries to process crude oil and uses black market oil sales to generate more than £1m a day, according to the Pentagon.
Problems for civilians
Hand in Hand for Syria told Channel 4 News that cutting oil production could create problems for civilians.
A spokesman said: 'The concern is that many oil refineries are focused in areas that have become a target of airstrikes.
'As most of the infrastructure of the country has been destroyed, many towns and cities, and indeed our hospitals, rely solely on the use of generators.
'These require fuel to power them and fuel prices are rising quickly, we may soon find ourselves running into difficulty powering the generators for our hospitals.'
Strain on resources
She added: 'As people flee areas being targeted by coalition airstrikes, many more internally displaced people are moving around in the country and causing a strain on the already-limited resources available in small towns and cities.
'It almost seems like there was no prior planning in this respect.'
Unlike many aid agencies, Hand in Hand for Syria says it is able to operate across most of the country, using local staff rather than foreign workers or volunteers.
The worsening security situation over the last two years, with the rise of Islamic State and a spate of kidappings of foreign journalists and aid workers, means few of the charity's non-Arabic staff are able to enter the country.
Posted by Unknown on Friday, September 26, 2014 - Rating: 4.5
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