Activists say rebels have captured oil pumping station in northern Syria

FILE - In this Dec. 17, 2012 file photo, a man runs between debris after a mortar shell hit a street killing several people in the Bustan Al-Qasr district of Aleppo, Syria. 2012 was a year of storms, of raging winds and rising waters, but also broader turbulence that strained our moorings. Old enmities and grievances resurfaced in the Middle East, clouding the legacy of the 2011 Arab spring. And the number of dead in the Syrian civil war passed 40,000. (AP Photo/Narciso Contreras, File) (The Associated Press)

Una extensa nube de humo cobre un área de la ciudad de Homs a raíz de ataques con proyectiles, en estas imágenes de la Red de Noticias Shaam, las cuales han sido verificadas en reportes de noticias de APen Siria, el jueves 27 de diciembre del 2012. (Foto AP/Shaam News Network via video AP) (The Associated Press)

Activists say Syrian rebels have captured an oil pumping station in the north of the country after days of fighting.

The Local Coordination Committees and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights say the rebels captured the station in the province of Raqqa on Sunday.

Rami Abdul-Rahman, who heads the Observatory, said the station receives crude oil from the nearby province of Hassakha then pumps it to the central region of Homs, home to one of Syria's two oil refineries.

Rebels have captured in the past months several oil fields in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour that borders Iraq.

The Observatory said the rebels also captured a military post that used to protect the station.

Syria's conflict which began in March last year has killed more than 40,000 people.