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Syria War Cost Industry $2.2 Billion

Syria War Cost Industry $2.2 Billion
Agence France Presse
Syrian refugees try grabbing a food in a park where they live with their families on November 3, 2013, in Istanbul. According to the Turkish Disaster Management Authority, the number of Syrian refugees in Turkey has exceeded 600,000 and more than 400,000 of them are living outside refugee camps. Turkey, which shares a 900-km (560-mile) border with Syria, is a strong critic of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and a main supporter of the rebels fighting against him. It has said it will maintain its 'open door' policy to those fleeing the Syrian civil war, now in its third year, although it has closed border crossings from time to time following clashes near the frontier. AFP PHOTO/BULENT KILIC (Photo credit should read BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images)
Syrian refugees try grabbing a food in a park where they live with their families on November 3, 2013, in Istanbul. According to the Turkish Disaster Management Authority, the number of Syrian refugees in Turkey has exceeded 600,000 and more than 400,000 of them are living outside refugee camps. Turkey, which shares a 900-km (560-mile) border with Syria, is a strong critic of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and a main supporter of the rebels fighting against him. It has said it will maintain its 'open door' policy to those fleeing the Syrian civil war, now in its third year, although it has closed border crossings from time to time following clashes near the frontier. AFP PHOTO/BULENT KILIC (Photo credit should read BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images)

The Syrian industrial sector has lost $2.2 billion since the war began 31 months ago, Industry Minister Kamaleddine Tohme said in statements published Sunday.

"The losses in the industrial sector from the start of the Syrian crisis till October total 336 billion Syrian pounds ($2.2 billion)," the pro-regime newspaper Al-Watan quoted Tohme as saying.

The private industrial sector has lost $1.5 billion, while public industry has lost $700 million, he said.

But he insisted that the figures did not reflect losses incurred in parts of the country held by rebel groups fighting to topple the regime.

More than 120,000 people have been killed in Syria's war, and millions more forced to flee their homes.

It has also destroyed the economy, causing soaring inflation and driving down the value of the Syrian pound.

According to the UN, more than half the Syrian population is now living in poverty.

Copyright (2013) AFP. All rights reserved.

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Syria War In October (Warning: Graphic Images)

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