Near-simultaneous attacks believed to have been carried out with drones targeted three government-run oil and gas facilities in central Syria at dawn yesterday, the oil ministry said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the triple attack but Britain-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said sleeper cells of the Islamic State group were probably responsible.

The ministry said that the targets included the oil refinery in Homs, one of only two in Syria, and two gas facilities, one south of the city and one in the desert to its east.

Another news from United Nations adds: Russia and China used their vetoes Friday to block a UN Security Council resolution that would have extended for a year cross-border humanitarian aid to four million Syrians. Humanitarian aid currently flows into Syria through UN-designated checkpoints without the formal permission of the regime in Damascus, but that authority is due to expire on January 10.

Germany, Belgium and Kuwait presented a resolution extending that authority for a year, winning the support of 13 council members but drawing the vetoes of Russia and China.

A competing Russian resolution that would have granted a six-month extension while reducing the number of UN crossing points was rejected, having failed to get the minimum nine votes.