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1st LD: IS said to get full control of key gas field in Syria's Homs

Xinhua, May 5, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Islamic State (IS) group has taken full control of the al-Shaer gas field in the central province of Homs, following three days of intense battles with Syrian government forces, a monitor group reported on Thursday.

More than 30 Syrian soldiers and 16 IS militants were killed in the battles, said the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Two IS militants died when they detonated two car bombs near the gas field, said the Observatory, which says it relies on a network of activists on the ground inside Syria.

Government troops are fighting hard to recapture the field, the Observatory said.

Al-Shaer, which has changed hands several times between the Syrian army and the IS over the past two years, feeds the city of Homs and the capital Damascus with gas for generating electricity in both provinces and the southern Syrian areas in general.

The IS has almost captured all the oil fields in the oil-rich province of Deir al-Zour in eastern Syria on the borders with Iraq, using revenues of the crude oil to support its funding. Endit