BEIRUT \u2014 The U.S.-led coalition said allied fighters captured Syria\u2019s largest oil field from the Islamic State group on Sunday, marking a major advance against the extremists in an area coveted by pro-government forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With IS in retreat, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces and the Syrian government have been in a race to secure parts of the oil-rich Deir el-Zour province along the border with Iraq.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The SDF, with air support from the U.S.-led coalition, said Sunday it captured the Al-Omar field in a \u201cswift and wide military operation.\u201d It said some militants have taken cover in oil company houses nearby, where clashes are underway. The U.S.-led coalition confirmed the SDF had retaken the oil field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said pro-government forces retreated from the area around Al-Omar field after coming under heavy fire from IS. The SDF said government forces are three kilometers (two miles) away from the fields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Syrian troops, backed by Russian warplanes and Iranian-sponsored militias, have retaken nearly all of the provincial capital of Deir el-Zour, as well as the town of Mayadeen, which is across the Euphrates River from the Al-Omar field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The SDF have focused their operations in rural Deir el-Zour on the eastern side of the river, and have already seized a major natural gas field and other smaller oil fields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Omar Abu Layla, a Europe-based activist from Deir el-Zour who monitors the fighting through contacts there, said SDF forces have seized control of the oil field but are still clashing with militants in the adjacent housing complex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
IS captured Al-Omar in 2014, when the group swept across large areas in Syria and neighboring 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 IS-held oil facilities by the U.S.-led coalition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The government lost the al-Omar field to other insurgents in 2013.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Al-Manar TV, operated by Lebanon\u2019s Hezbollah, said the fight for Al-Omar was still underway and denied the SDF\u2019s claim to have captured it. The militant group is fighting alongside Syrian President Bashar Assad\u2019s forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The official Syrian news agency said troops have regained full control of Khosham, a town on the eastern side of the Euphrates River that they lost a day earlier to IS. The Observatory said parts of the town remain contested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s not clear how Syrian troops will respond to the SDF\u2019s seizure of Al-Omar. Assad has vowed to eventually bring all of Syria back under government control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The two sides have accused each other of firing on their forces in Deir el-Zour province, but a rare face-to-face meeting of senior U.S. and Russian military officers last month appeared to have calmed tensions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
IS has suffered a series of major setbacks in recent months, including the loss of the Syrian city of Raqqa, once the extremists\u2019 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The U.S.-led coalition said allied fighters captured Syria\u2019s largest oil field from the Islamic State group.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":101908,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":65,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,8,12,26,65],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1213],"class_list":["post-66502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-flashpoints","category-news","category-newsletters","category-your-navy"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"QPYULSZZ4NC6NE4SBCL2PNQUWM","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-military\/2017\/10\/22\/us-allied-force-takes-syrias-largest-oil-field-from-isis\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n