DAMASCUS (AFP).- Syria's government on Monday accused US, French and Turkish forces in the north of the country of carrying out "illegal archaeological digs", but offered no evidence to back up the allegation.

"Information we have received indicates an acceleration in the pace of excavation work, pillaging and theft," a foreign ministry official was quoted as saying by state-run SANA news agency.

The unnamed official said digs were being conducted in the areas around Manbij, Raqa and Hasakeh in the north of the country, which are dominated by a Kurdish-led alliance backed up by the US.

The official also pointed to the regions of Afrin and Idlib controlled by pro-Turkish rebels.

Syria's complex seven-year conflict has drawn in a raft of international players, including a US-led coalition fighting against the Islamic State group.

There has been widespread looting of artifacts in the midst of the civil war.

Spokesman for the US-led coalition Sean Ryan brushed off the accusation from Damascus, saying the international alliance was "only here to defeat ISIS".

That denial was echoed by an official in Ankara and the Kurdish authorities in Syria.


© Agence France-Presse