ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Islamic State (ISIS) sleeper cells on Friday attacked an oil field in Syria’s eastern Deir ez-Zor province, setting one of the wells on fire, a conflict monitor reported.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that “ISIS cells attacked one of the oil wells in Al-Sabhan oil field in the northern countryside of Deir Ezzor, where they burned it, before fleeing to an unknown destination.”
ISIS has increased its attacks in Syria in recent weeks, particularly in the vast expanses of desert where the group launches surprise attacks amid a security vacuum.
No casualties have been reported, according to the watchdog.
The Arab-majority province of Deir ez-Zor was where ISIS militants made their last stand in Syria and were territorially defeated. Control of the province, on the Iraqi border, is now split between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Syrian regime, along with its Iranian backers.
It is also home to many of the country’s key oilfields, such as Omar and Conoco, which the US-led global coalition against ISIS helps the SDF protect.
ISIS rose to power and seized swathes of Iraqi and Syrian land in a brazen offensive in 2014, declaring a so-called “caliphate.” While the group was declared territorially defeated in 2019, it still continues to pose serious security risks through hit-and-run attacks, bombings, and abductions, especially across the vast expanses of the Syrian desert as well as several Iraqi provinces.
In late March, the SDF warned that ISIS still poses a threat to the world and the region as its defeat “requires dismantling its ideological breeding ground.”
“ISIS is still trying to recruit new terrorist elements, attempting to radicalize them into its ranks,” said the SDF, calling on the international community to “collaborate effectively” with its forces.
According to SOHR data, ISIS has conducted 124 operations in the areas controlled by the SDF, killing 63 individuals, including 11 civilians.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that “ISIS cells attacked one of the oil wells in Al-Sabhan oil field in the northern countryside of Deir Ezzor, where they burned it, before fleeing to an unknown destination.”
ISIS has increased its attacks in Syria in recent weeks, particularly in the vast expanses of desert where the group launches surprise attacks amid a security vacuum.
No casualties have been reported, according to the watchdog.
It is also home to many of the country’s key oilfields, such as Omar and Conoco, which the US-led global coalition against ISIS helps the SDF protect.
ISIS rose to power and seized swathes of Iraqi and Syrian land in a brazen offensive in 2014, declaring a so-called “caliphate.” While the group was declared territorially defeated in 2019, it still continues to pose serious security risks through hit-and-run attacks, bombings, and abductions, especially across the vast expanses of the Syrian desert as well as several Iraqi provinces.
In late March, the SDF warned that ISIS still poses a threat to the world and the region as its defeat “requires dismantling its ideological breeding ground.”
“ISIS is still trying to recruit new terrorist elements, attempting to radicalize them into its ranks,” said the SDF, calling on the international community to “collaborate effectively” with its forces.
According to SOHR data, ISIS has conducted 124 operations in the areas controlled by the SDF, killing 63 individuals, including 11 civilians.
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