BEIRUT: US-allied forces said on Sunday they have captured Syria’s largest oilfield from Daesh.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, who are in a race with Russian-backed Syrian troops to seize parts of the oil-rich Deir Al Zor province, said they are in full control of the Al Omar field.
The SDF has already driven IS from Deir Al Zor’s main natural gasfield and smaller oilfields. It says government forces are three kilometres away from the fields.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says pro-government forces retreated from the area around Al Omar field after coming under heavy fire from Daesh terrorists. Earlier this month, pro-government forces seized the town of Mayadeen, just across the Euphrates River.
Daesh captured Al Omar in 2014, when the group swept across large areas in Syria and neighbouring Iraq. The field was estimated to produce around 9,000 barrels a day, making it a key source of revenue for the extremists. Its current potential is unknown, following a series of strikes on Daesh-held oil facilities by the US-led coalition.
Al Manar TV, operated by Hezbollah, said the fight for Al Omar was still underway and denied the SDF’s claim to have captured it. The Lebanese militant group is fighting alongside Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces.
Daesh has suffered a series of major setbacks in recent months, including the loss of the Syrian city of Raqqa, once the terrorists’ self-styled capital, and the Iraqi city of Mosul. Most of the territory the group once held has been seized by an array of Syrian and Iraqi forces.
