Allies retake ISIS oil field

US-backed fighters captured Syria’s largest oil field from ISIS Sunday, marking a major advance against the extremists in an area coveted by pro-government forces.

With ISIS 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 Iraq border.

The Al-Omar oil field was a major source of income for the terrorist group and is considered one Syria’s most productive. The condition of the field, which has been controlled by ISIS for three years, was not clear following intense coalition and Russian airstrikes.

The SDF, with air sup- port from the US-led coalition, said it captured the field in a “swift and wide military operation.” It said some militants had taken cover in oil-company houses nearby, where clashes were underway. The US-led coalition confirmed the SDF had retaken the oil field.

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, another ISIS stronghold, which is across the Euphrates River from the Al-Omar field.

ISIS captured Al-Omar in 2014, when the group swept across large areas in Syria and Iraq. At the time, the field was estimated to produce around 9,000 barrels a day.