IS said to capture oilfield in central Syria

Activists say members of the Islamic State group have captured an oilfield in central Syria.

The activists say the extremists captured the Jazal oilfield late Sunday after intense clashes with government forces in the area in the central province of Homs. Syria-based activist Bebars al-Talawy says via Skype that IS fighters first attacked army posts around the Jazal field then stormed it.

Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, says that all the engineers working in the field moved to the nearby government-controlled Shaer gas field.

He says government troops withdrew from the field but now overlook parts of it.

IS fighters control much of Syria’s oilfield, which are mostly in the eastern regions bordering Iraq.

— AP