Home inContext Islamic State Seizes Gas Field

Islamic State Seizes Gas Field

Yael Rein
SOURCE

Clashes between pro-Syrian government forces and the Islamic State (IS) over the past few days killed over 700 people, the deadliest weekend since the Syrian civil war began. On Sunday, government forces launched a new offensive, attempting to retake infrastructure recently lost to the jihadists.

IS seized the Shaar natural gas field east of Homs from pro-Asad forces on Thursday, leaving at least 90 people dead from the fighting, including 40 ISIS fighters. The fates of engineers and other operating in the fields remain unknown. After taking control of the area, the terrorist group then enforced its own version of Sharia law on the local population. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an organization that monitors violence in Syria, IS “killed or executed” more than 270 people in the area.

Militant Islamist fighters wave flags as they take part in a military parade along the streets of Syria’s northern Raqqa province June 30, 2014. (Photo: Reuters)

Clashes between pro-Syrian government forces and the Islamic State (IS) over the past few days killed over 700 people, the deadliest weekend since the Syrian civil war began. On Sunday, government forces launched a new offensive, attempting to retake infrastructure recently lost to the jihadists.

IS seized the Shaar natural gas field east of Homs from pro-Asad forces on Thursday, leaving at least 90 people dead from the fighting, including 40 ISIS fighters. The fates of engineers and other operating in the fields remain unknown. After taking control of the area, the terrorist group then enforced its own version of Sharia law on the local population. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an organization that monitors violence in Syria, IS “killed or executed” more than 270 people in the area.