The Syrian regime announced today that it was revoking the credentials of BBC correspondents, accusing the British broadcaster of publishing “biased news and reporting”, a rare move against an international media outlet in the war-torn country.

“As the (British media group) failed to adhere to professional standards and its insistence on providing politicized and biased news and reporting‘, the Ministry of Information has decided to ‘revoke the accreditation’ of BBC and BBC Radio correspondents, according to the statement.

The BBC has not publicly reacted so far.

“Despite repeated warnings” to the group, it “continued to spread misleading information based on statements (…) by terrorist and hostile entities towards Syria,” the ministry noted.

Since its outbreak in 2011, the civil war in Syria has claimed more than half a million lives and displaced millions. Many foreign journalists fled the country as the war escalated.

Revocation of accreditation by international media representatives remains rare in Damascus, where the few remaining foreign media outlets have correspondents in the country.

Syria ranks 175th out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders’ press freedom index. The Syrian government and other authorities impose severe restrictions on media coverage.

The BBC published a report last month citing “direct links” between the trade in a type of amphetamine, known as captagon, and the family of President Bashar al-Assad, as well as the Syrian army.

Damascus has denied any role in the drug trade.

The US, Britain and the European Union have accused the Syrian government of producing and exporting the drug, accusing Maher al-Assad – head of the army’s Fourth Division and brother of the Syrian president – of having a leading role in these activities.