ISIL said to take control of Syria’s key oil field

UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says jihadist group captured al-Omar from al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front

By AP 3 July 2014, 5:37 pm

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An image made available by the jihadist Twitter account Al-Baraka News on June 13, 2014, allegedly shows Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant militants clashing with Iraqi soldiers at an undisclosed location close to the Iraqi-Syrian border, in the district of Sinjar, northwest Iraq. (photo credit: AFP/HO/Al-Baraka News)

BEIRUT — Activists say fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant have taken control of Syria’s largest oil field, near the border with Iraq.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the extremist group captured al-Omar oil field in eastern Deir el-Zour province on Thursday after fighters belonging to a rival group, the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, left without firing a bullet.

The al-Omar field has changed hands several times in the course of Syria’s three-year conflict. The Nusra Front and several other Islamic factions captured it from forces loyal to President Bashar Assad in November.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant has seized a large expanse of territory in Syria and neighboring Iraq, and has declared the establishment of an Islamic state astride the border.