A ministry statement, published on state media, did not name the firm involved in the deal with the Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance that seized swathes of north and east Syria from the Islamic State with US help.

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The statement did not give details on the agreement. There was no immediate response from SDF officials to a Reuters' request for comment. There was no immediate comment from US officials.

Damascus "condemns in the strongest terms the agreement signed between al-Qasd militia (SDF) and an American oil company to steal Syria's oil under the sponsorship and support of the American administration," the statement said.

"This agreement is null and void and has no legal basis," it said, adding that it was a violation of Syrian sovereignty.

Syria produced around 380,000 barrels of oil per day before a civil war erupted following a crackdown on protests in 2011, with Iran and Russia backing President Bashar al-Assad's government and the United States supporting the opposition.

Damascus lost control of most oil-producing fields in a stretch east of the Euphrates River in Deir al-Zor. Western sanctions have also hit the energy industry.

US President Donald Trump has said that despite a military pullback from northeast Syria, a small number of American forces would remain "where they have oil." The Pentagon said late last year that oilfield revenues would go to the SDF.

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On Sunday, the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia said al-Muhajir was killed in a joint raid between Kurdish-led and US forces in northern Syria.

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Syrian Democratic Forces General Commander Mazloum Abdi said it was "a continuation of the previous operation" in which Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed on Saturday. He described the jihadist spokesman as Baghdadi's right-hand man.

Al-Muhajir was killed in the Syrian town of Jarablus in Aleppo province, said the US official, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity.

The operation which led to "the demise of [Baghdadi's] No. 2, or one of his No. 2s," was also carried out by US forces, the official said, adding that the SDF had a big role in it.

Baghdadi, an Iraqi jihadist who rose from obscurity to declare himself "caliph" of all Muslims as the leader of Islamic State, died by detonating a suicide vest after fleeing into a dead-end tunnel as elite US special operations forces closed in on him, according to the US government.

Islamic State has no declared successor as leader. But the group has in the past proved resilient, continuing to mount or inspire attacks in the region and beyond despite losing most of its territory in recent years.

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Since Trump pulled US troops out of the way following a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the incursion has opened a major new front in the eight-year Syrian war and drawn fierce criticism internationally.

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"We have one of three choices: Send in thousands of troops and win Militarily, hit Turkey very hard Financially and with Sanctions, or mediate a deal between Turkey and the Kurds!" Trump said in a Twitter post on Thursday.

"I hope we can mediate," Trump said when asked about the options by reporters at the White House.

Without elaborating, Trump said the United States was "going to possibly do something very, very tough with respect to sanctions and other financial things" against Turkey.

On Friday morning, Turkish jets and artillery struck around Syria's Ras al-Ain, one of two border towns that have been the focus of the offensive. Gunfire could also be heard inside the town, said a Reuters journalist in Ceylanpinar, on the Turkish side of the border.

He said a convoy of 20 armored vehicles carrying Syrian rebels entered Syria from Ceylanpinar on Friday. Some of them made victory signs, shouted "Allahu akbar" and waved Syrian rebel flags as they advanced towards Ras al-Ain.

Some 120 km (75 miles) west, Turkish howitzers resumed shelling near the Syrian town of Tel Abyad, a witness said.

Turkey's Defense Ministry said that in overnight operations the Turkish military and its Syrian rebel allies killed 49 Kurdish fighters. It says it has killed 277 fighters in total.

The ministry said one Turkish soldier was killed in a clash on Thursday during the offensive, which is targeting the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), led by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia.

Kurds said they were resisting the assault. At least 23 fighters with the SDF and six fighters with a Turkish-backed Syrian rebel group had been killed, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the war.

NATO member Turkey says the operation is necessary for border security against the YPG militia, which it designates a terrorist group because of ties to militants who have waged a decades-old insurgency in southeast Turkey in which more than 40,000 people have been killed.

Ankara has also said it intends to create a "safe zone" for the return of millions of refugees to Syria.

The SDF have been the main allies of US forces on the ground in the battle against Islamic State since 2014. They have been holding thousands of captured IS fighters in prisons and tens of thousands of their relatives in detention.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian called for an emergency meeting of the coalition of more than 30 countries created to fight Islamic State.

SDF forces were still in control of all prisons with Islamic State captives, a senior US State Department official said in a briefing with reporters on Thursday.

The United States has received a high-level commitment from Turkey on taking responsibility for Islamic State captives but had not yet had detailed discussions, the official said.

US lawmakers have said Trump gave Erdoğan the green light to go into Syria but the official disputed that. "We gave them a very clear red light, I've been involved in those red lights and I know the president did that on Sunday," the official said.

The SDF said Turkish airstrikes and shelling had killed nine civilians. In apparent retaliation by Kurdish-led forces, six people including a 9-month-old baby were killed by mortar fire into Turkish towns, Turkish officials said.

The International Rescue Committee aid group said 64,000 people in Syria have fled since the campaign began. The towns of Ras al-Ain and Al-Darbasiyah, some 60 km (40 miles) to the east, were largely deserted.

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Iraq is conducting trials of thousands of suspected members of Islamic State, including hundreds of foreigners, with many arrested as the group's strongholds crumbled throughout Iraq.

The French trio were extradited to Iraq in February and military sources at the time said that 14 French citizens were among 280 Iraqi and foreign detainees handed over by the U.S-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

"They were sentenced to execution after it was proven that they were members of the terrorist Islamic State organization," said one court official, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Iraq began court proceedings against the 14 French suspected Islamic State members in March, legal sources said.

"All three convicted Frenchmen rejected the ruling and asked to be tried in France, but judges ignored their request," a court-appointed lawyer said.

Appeals can be made against the convictions.

The French government has so far categorically refused to take back IS fighters and their wives. Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian referred to them as "enemies" of the nation, saying they should face justice either in Syria or Iraq.

The French Foreign Ministry declined to comment on Sunday's death sentences.

French authorities have repatriated a handful of children and plan to continue on a case-by-case basis.

Human rights groups have accused Iraqi authorities of inconsistencies in the judicial process and flawed trials, leading to unfair convictions.

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