BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Syrian army supported by Iranian backed militias seized new oil fields in the desert in the southwest of Raqqa province on Monday in new advances against retreating Islamic state militants.

The Syrian army said on state media they had taken al Daylaa oil field alongside the Zamla gas field in large stretches of territory the militant group have been pulling out of in recent weeks to defend their remaining possessions in Syria.

On Saturday the army said they taken control of Wahab, al Fahd, Dbaysan, al-Qseer, Abu al Qatat and Abu Qatash oil fields and several other villages in the desert area that lies in the southwest of Raqqa province.

Most of Syria's oil fields are mainly located in the northeastern province of Hasaka which is the hands of Kurdish YPG militia and also in Raqqa province where the militants have been losing large swathes of territory to advancing U.S. backed forces now battling them inside Raqqa city.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Syrian army, supported by Iranian-backed militias from Iraq and Lebanon, was now on the edge of the Bushra chain of mountains, a main militant hideout 55 km west of Deir Zor city.

State media said Russian jets also bombed the area around Sukhna town further south, which is the gateway to the eastern province of Deir al-Zor that borders Iraq and likely to be the militants' last major bastion in Syria if Raqqa falls.

The army's capture last week of the major Hail gas field northeast of the ancient city brought them 18 kms to the south of Sukhna.

On Monday, an army statement said they had captured key areas west of Sukhna and killed scores of Islamic State militants as they steadily advanced towards the town whose capture would ease the path towards Deir al Zor. </s> Children walk at a camp for displaced people who fled fighting in the Daesh stronghold of Raqqa, in Ain Issa, Syria, on Friday (Reuters file photo)

BEIRUT — The Syrian army backed by heavy Russian air strikes seized a string of oil wells in southwest Raqqa province on Saturday, as retreating the Daesh terror group militants battle to defend their remaining territory in the country.

State-owned Ikhbariyah television quoted a military source as saying the army had taken control of Wahab, Al Fahd, Dbaysan, Al Qseer, Abu Al Qatat and Abu Qatash oil fields and several other villages in the desert area that lies in the southwest of Raqqa province.

The seized oil fields lie south of the town of Rasafa and its oil wells, which the army took last month from the militants in their first major territorial gains inside the province.

The army and Iranian-backed militias have in the last few months been advancing east of Aleppo city and seizing swathes of territory west of the Euphrates River that militants have pulled out of to defend their de facto capital of Raqqa, where they are now battling US-backed troops inside the city.

The latest gains tighten the army's grip on a bulge of territory stretching from eastern Hama province to eastern Homs and the edge of Raqqa and Deir Ezzor provinces, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said.

The monitor said the Russian air force intensified its strikes on several targets and towns held by the militants in the area including Uqairbat, a target of Russian cruise missiles fired from warships in the Mediterranean at the end of May.

The army's next goal is to retake the town of Sukhna, a gateway to the eastern province of Deir Ezzor that borders Iraq and likely to be the militants' last major bastion in Syria if Raqqa falls.

The army and its Iranian-backed allies have also announced in the last few days steady gains in the desert northeast of the ancient city of Palmyra with their capture of the Hail gas field that brought them almost 18km south of Sukhna.

Heavy fighting has ‘however’ continued in the last 48 hours near Hail and the nearby Arak gas field that the Syrian army took last month, both the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and extremist websites said.

The army and Iranian-backed militias have been engaged in a campaign since May to fill the void left by the retreat of militants in areas they once controlled in the vast eastern Syrian desert that stretches all the way from central Syria to the south eastern border with Iraq and Jordan.

In the southeastern desert, heavy fighting continued between the army and its Iranian backed allies on one side and the Western-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebels in the rugged eastern countryside of the city of Sweida in southern Syria.

The army said it had captured most of these areas that are also near the border with Jordan, while the rebels said they had inflicted losses on Lebanon’s powerful Hizbollah group and Iraqi Shiite militias. </s> The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human rights said the militants had entered Palmyra after they had taken strategic heights near the city and captured the northern part of the city and mountains around it.

The Syrian army earlier said it had sent reinforcements to Palmyra, to help the army defend the city in what some rebels said were coming from Aleppo and forcing the Syrian government to divert troops from the city where the army and Iranian backed militias were on the verge of a major victory against rebels.

A statement by Islamic State's news agency Amaq said the group had taken the strategic Jabal al Tar and Jabal Antara mountains that overlook the city in some of the heaviest fighting since the group lost the city.

The militants were pushing towards the T4 airbase, one of Syria's major military bases, near Palmyra city and which Russian forces have been using to support the Syrian army.

Islamic State's assault, which began late on Thursday, has killed dozens of Syrian soldiers and quickly taken over grain silos and control of some oil and gas fields around Palmyra, monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The U.S.-led coalition which is separately fighting the militants said late on Friday it had taken out 168 IS oil tanker trucks near Palmyra in a large air raid. </s> BEIRUT, LEBANON (5:55 P.M.) – Minutes ago, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) scored another important victory in northern Syria, liberating an Islamic State (ISIL) controlled oil field in the Al-Raqqa Governorate.

Led by their elite Tiger Forces, the Syrian Arab Army began the day by storming the Al-Fahd Oil Field and nearby Al-Fahd Oil Station; this would result in a fierce battle with the Islamic State terrorists in southern Al-Raqqa.

Finally, by the late afternoon, the Syrian Arab Army was able to impose full control over the Al-Fahd Oil Field and Oil Station, forcing the remaining Islamic State terrorists to retreat south.

With the liberation of the Al-Fahd Oil Field, today, the Syrian Arab Army has liberated at least a half dozen oil fields from the Islamic State’s grip this week. </s> Damascus, July 18: The Syrian army backed by heavy Russian air strikes seized seized new oil fields in the desert in the southwest of Raqqa province on Monday in push against retreating IS militants.

The Syrian army said that they had taken al Daylaa oil field alongside the Zamla gas field in large stretches of territory, Xinhua reported.

The army added they taken control of Wahab, al Fahd, Dbaysan, al-Qseer, Abu al Qatat and Abu Qatash oil fields and several other villages in the desert area that lies in the southwest of Raqqa province.

Most of Syria's oil fields are mainly located in the northeastern province of Hasaka which is the hands of Kurdish YPG militia and also in Raqqa province where the militants have been losing large swathes of territory.

The army's capture last week of the major Hail gas field northeast of the ancient city brought them 18 km to the south of Sukhna. </s> Islamic State militants entered Palmyra in central Syria Saturday, nine months after being pushed out of the city by Syrian government troops backed by the Russian military.

The Associated Press, quoting reports by a Palmyra activist group, said IS had seized a military warehouse as well as the city's northern and western neighborhoods.

The militants are also pushing toward a nearby Syrian military airbase that the Russian military has been using to support Syrian forces, Reuters reported.

The intensification of fighting came after IS fighters captured at least a dozen government-held positions in eastern Homs, including strategic areas around Palmyra.



"IS took complete control of al-Mohur [oil] field in northwest of Palmyra," the pro-rebel Palmyra Coordination Committee said in a tweet on Friday.



IS has reportedly seized a significant amount of weapons and ammunition from retreating Syrian soldiers in the area, local reports said. Syrian warplane on Friday bombarded the area in an attempt to push IS fighters back.



The IS-led offensive on eastern Homs was so swift it took pro-regime forces by surprise, activists said.



IS "was so quick in capturing all these areas," said Hussein al-Homsi, a pro-opposition media activist in Homs. "The [Syrian] regime forces had to retreat and perhaps regroup to fight back in some of the recently captured areas."



Syrian troops took heavy casualties since Thursday, said the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a group that monitors Syria's civil war with activists on the ground.



"If the [IS] advancement continues this way, it could take control of Palmyra at any moment," said Rami Abdulrahman, spokesman for the group.

It seems "IS has planned for this assault for a long time," he added.

FILE - Syrian army soldiers stands on the ruins of FILE - Syrian army soldiers stands on the ruins of the Temple of Bel in the historic city of Palmyra, in Homs Governorate, Syria, April 1, 2016. FILE - Syrian army soldiers stands on the ruins of the Temple of Bel in the historic city of Palmyra, in Homs Governorate, Syria, April 1, 2016.





Syrian government forces recaptured Palmyra in March after IS controlled and destroyed key parts of the city's UNESCO World Heritage ruins.



IS "is interested in Palmyra for its international importance" and it is a way for them to distract the world's attention from what is going on in Mosul and Raqqa," Abdulrahman told VOA.



Analysts say with its Iraqi stronghold of Mosul coming under siege from Iraq-led forces and Raqqa, its de facto capital in Syria, being targeted by a Kurdish-led offensive, IS is likely setting its sights to create a new stronghold.



IS is using the Syrian desert as a route to resupply and reinforce its fighters in Homs. The sprawling desert connects Homs to its strongholds of Raqqa and Deir Ezzor in eastern Syria.



The Pentagon said on Friday a U.S. airstrike destroyed 168 oil tanker trucks near Palmyra used by IS.



The central province of Homs is largely controlled by Syrian government troops. Some pockets in the north are under the control of rebels battling the regime while other areas in the east are under IS control.



IS wants to move toward the central city of Homs where pro-Assad troops have been in charge since pushing out the last remaining groups of rebels in 2015.



"Homs is a natural area of operations for [IS]," said Nicholas A. Heras, a Middle East researcher at the Center for a New American Security in Washington. "[IS] already has a long-established military presence in the contested areas [of Homs]." </s> BEIRUT — The Islamic State group has killed 12 people it held captive in Syria’s ancient Palmyra by shooting and beheading them, with some of the slayings carried out in the city’s second-century Roman amphitheatre, activists said on Thursday.

The extremist group had recaptured the city in December from government troops — nine months after ISIL was expelled from there in a Russia-backed offensive and while Syrian government forces were focused on retaking the eastern half of the city of Aleppo from rebels.

When they previously controlled Palmyra, ISIL militants had used the Roman amphitheatre for public killings, including those in a video showing 25 boys with pistols shooting captured Syrian soldiers, the ancient colonnades visible in the background.

The Islamic State group has also destroyed ancient temples and other relics in the past, triggering fears among experts for remaining antiquities in the city. The city has been largely emptied out of its residents, following the government offensive in March last year.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and another activist network, the Palmyra Monitor, said the 12 captives were killed on Wednesday. They were captured as they tried to escape the ISIL offensive on Palmyra last month.

The Observatory said four teachers and government employees were beheaded in the courtyard of the Palmyra museum. The Observatory and the Palmyra Monitor said the others — four opposition fighters and four pro-government troops — were first shot, then beheaded in the Roman amphitheatre or in a former Russian base in Palmyra.

The Observatory also said Thursday that ISIL militants during an ongoing assault in eastern Syria’s Deir el-Zour province, hung the heads of six pro-government fighters in public, in different parts of the town of al-Mayadeen. There were no bodies attached to the heads, and it was not clear if the six were killed in battle or after they were taken captive.

Over the past year, ISIL has suffered defeats in both Syria and Iraq, losing several towns and cities it had captured in 2014. Its surprise re-taking of Palmyra came weeks before it went on a wide assault in Deir el-Zour, against the government controlled part of the city. Activists said it was the ISIL group’s most aggressive onslaught on the government area and a nearby military air base in a year.

The Islamic State group is feared for its reign of terror and gruesome killings, including beheadings, often carried out in public. </s> Syrian news agency SANA reported that over 4,000 militants swarmed the city from "various directions," despite having suffered heavy losses from bombardments by the Syrian air force. The Russian Defense Ministry had earlier reported that its aircraft had also taken part in the air campaign.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) confirmed that Palmyra had fallen to ISIS on Sunday after Syrian armed forces pulled out from the desert city, the organization said.

"Despite the ongoing air raids, IS retook all of Palmyra after the Syrian army withdrew south of the city," said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman, using another acronym for the group.

ISIS' own media wing, the Amaq news agency, also reported that the jihadist group's forces had regained "full control" of the city.

How to rebuild a war zone: The vision of a young architect in Syria ISIS first seized control of Palmyra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in May 2015. Syrian government forces recaptured it in March this year. But on Saturday, ISIS had made new inroads in the city, taking neighborhoods and key sites as Syrian troops focused on a ground operation in the city of Aleppo, SOHR said. Sana added that the jihadist group had transported troops in from Raqqa, its de facto capital in northern Syria, and the city of Deir Ezzor in the country's east. ISIS fighters had seized almost the entire city Saturday before Russian warplanes began an intense bombardment, forcing the militants to withdraw to orchards and towns on Palmyra's outskirts. Before: The ruins of the 2,000-year-old Temple of Baalshamin are seen in Palmyra, Syria, in 2007. The ISIS militant group took over the ancient city last year and razed parts of its The ruins of the 2,000-year-old Temple of Baalshamin are seen in Palmyra, Syria, in 2007. The ISIS militant group took over the ancient city last year and razed parts of its World Heritage Site. Syrian government forces recaptured the ancient city from the terror group in March 2016. Click through to see the landmarks before and after ISIS' occupation. After: A Syrian government soldier walks near what's left of the Temple of Baalshamin on Sunday, March 27. Syrian forces retook the city days before, but damage had already been done by ISIS. UNESCO says it plans to evaluate the extent of A Syrian government soldier walks near what's left of the Temple of Baalshamin on Sunday, March 27. Syrian forces retook the city days before, but damage had already been done by ISIS. UNESCO says it plans to evaluate the extent of Palmyra's damage soon. Many of the structures -- which date from the first and second centuries and marry Greco-Roman techniques with local traditions and Persian influences -- remain in place, bolstering hopes that ISIS didn't completely raze the world heritage site. Before: The Arch of Triumph in 2006. After: The Arch of Triumph on March 27. Before: The Temple of Bel in 2008. After: The Temple of Bel on March 27. Destroyed statues are seen inside the damaged Palmyra Museum on March 27. Many statues in the museum had their faces chipped off -- in keeping with strict Sharia interpretations of the depiction of human forms. Before ISIS invaded, authorities took what they could from the museum. But larger items and those fixed to walls had to be left behind. The Syrian directorate-general of antiquities and monuments was positive that the condition of artifacts meant that they could be restored and their "historic value" returned, according to a translation of an article on the department's website. ISIS took over Palmyra in May. Palmyra was a caravan oasis when Romans overtook it in the mid-first century. In the centuries that followed, the area "stood at the crossroads of several civilizations" with its art and architecture mixing Greek, Roman and Persian influences, according to UNESCO. Russia's Defense Ministry said its jets had delivered 64 airstrikes overnight and claimed to have killed 300 militants in the raid. "During the night, Syrian government forces, actively supported by the Russian Aerospace Forces, repelled all attacks by terrorists on Palmyra. The attacking side actively used car bombs, armor and rocket artillery systems," the ministry told the state-run Sputnik news agency. "Eleven battle tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, 31 cars with heavy machine guns, and over 300 militants were destroyed." ISIS demolished many of the city's ancient treasures, including the 1,800-year-old Arch of Triumph and the nearly 2,000-year-old Temple of Baalshamin, as well as the Temple of Bel. The group beheaded the antiquities expert who looked after the ruins. Syria said ISIS also destroyed two Muslim holy sites: a 500-year-old shrine and a tomb where a descendant of the Prophet Mohammed's cousin was reportedly buried. Palmyra was a caravan oasis when the Romans overtook it in the middle of the first century. In the centuries that followed, the area "stood at the crossroads of several civilizations," with its art and architecture mixing Greek, Roman and Persian influences, according to UNESCO, the UN agency that documents the world's most important cultural and natural sites. The woman documenting the 'Humans of Damascus' </s> The Syrian Army Tiger Forces and Tribal Forces have captured Qurat Rumailan, the Rumailan Dam, and 15 oil and gas wells 10km east of Dibisan in the southern Raqqah countryside. Government troops have also captured the Dibisan 1 and Dibisan 2 pumping stations.

ISIS allegedly lost 7 VBIEDs, a battle tank, and four vehicles during the clashes. At the same time the terrorist group headquarters in the vicinity of Al-Zemla was bombed by the Syrian Air Force.

According to pro-ISIS sources, 8 Syrian soldiers were killed near the village of Abu Allaj at the Raqqah-Ithriyah road. General Mundhir Mayhoub and Brigadier General Ayman Habib of the Syrian Army 5th Assault Corps were allegedly killed in the same area. However, this still has to be confirmed.

Reports are circulating that the Tiger Forces and Tribal forces have almost reached the southern entrance to Raqqah after capturing the Ittihad University near Qusrat Afnan. However, no videos or photos have appeared which might confirm these claims by pro-government sources.

Recently, the Syrian military command increased military censorship and operations security, preventing soldiers from releasing and spreading information about army movements, actions, and plans. A lack of information from the ground is related to this issue.

Government forces advanced east and northeast of the Al-Heel field and deployed within about 10 km from the ISIS-held town of Sukhna at the Palmyra-Deir Ezzor road.

Earlier this week, the army and its allies captured a number of hills in the area steadily setting up the ground for the storm of Sukhna.

ISIS claimed that 19 Syrian soldiers were killed after their fighters attacked SAA positions east of the Al-Heel field. The terrorist group allegedly destroyed two army tanks with an ATGM and a rocket-propelled shell during the clashes.

ISIS attacked army positions in Wadi al-Wa’ar near the Syrian-Iraqi border and allegedly killed 25 Syrian soldiers and captured 3 others. ISIS also destroyed several SAA vehicles and seized weapons and ammunition.

ISIS expanded its operations against the army and its allies in the Palmyra countryside and near the border with Iraq in order to prevent government forces from advancing on Deir Ezzor.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) received a new batch of American weapons and equipment, including M-ATV US armored vehicles and D7R armored bulldozers. Tankers were spotted in the military convoy loaded with fuel for US helicopters which are deployed at several bases inside Syria.

Meanwhile, the SDF, backed up by the US-led coalition, is developing momentum against ISIS in the southern part of the city of Raqqah. The US-backed force was not able to seize the old city area and is now attempting to isolate it from the southern direction.
• No sleep tonight for jihadists as Lebanese, Syrian forces pound Arsal
• 27 ISIS Terrorists Killed As SDF Advances In Southern Part Of Raqqa City (Photos, Videos)
• EU Imposes Sanctions On Leader Of Defenders Of Deir Ezzor, Says He’s Linked To Chemical Attack In Khan Shaykhun
• Israel To Build New Field Hospital To Treat Syrian Militants – Reports
The SOHR and Amaq announce that ISIL has captured an oil field north-west of Palmyra.