U.S. soldiers gather in front of a military vehicle near the city of Al-Malikiyah in Syria's oil-rich northeastern province of Hasakah near the Turkish border, on August 27, 2020. (Photo by AFP)

Beijing, August 15 (RHC)-- A leading Chinese newspaper has lambasted the continued plundering of the Syrian oil by the U.S. occupation forces across the Arab country, saying that the looting is a “disgrace and a shame to Washington.”

China Daily made the assertion in an article published over the weekend, following reports that a convoy consisting of more than a hundred U.S. military tankers had carried thousands of liters of crude oil from the northeastern Syrian province of Hasakah to the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region in northern Iraq.

“It is easy to understand the fact that U.S. troops steal oil from Syria, as theft has long been their profession.  Yet, it is rather informative that the US troops transported their stolen oil to Iraq, which is, in the general impression of the public, a country rich in oil,” the paper said, stressing that the matter shows "Washington's greedy appetite for oil is still not satisfied.”

The top Chinese newspaper pointed out that the theft always reflects negatively on the people of the countries whose resources are stolen by the United States, underlining Iraq’s high rates of poverty despite the country’s richness in oil and other natural assets.

“Despite being the fifth-largest oil producer of the world, much of Iraq's population is still living in poverty,” the paper said, adding: “There might be many reasons, but pillaging by the U.S. is probably one of them.  There have been many reports of the U.S. having shipped seized and shipped gold out of the country.”

Syria’s official news agency SANA said on Thursday that 144 tankers laden with stolen Syrian oil had entered the Iraqi territories after crossing al-Mahmoudiya border crossing.  The development took place only a few days after American occupation forces allowed a convoy of 60 vehicles, including tanker trucks carrying stolen Syrian oil and covered trucks, to cross the “illegitimate” al-Waleed crossing into Iraq.

SANA reported over the weekend that the U.S. occupation forces plundered a cargo of 89 tankers carrying Syrian oil in violation of all international laws and regulations.  The U.S. military has stationed forces and equipment in northeastern Syria, with the Pentagon claiming that the deployment is aimed at preventing the oilfields in the area from falling into the hands of Daesh terrorists.

Damascus, however, maintains the deployment is meant to plunder the country's rich mineral resources.