Battle for Syrian gas field kills at least 136

This undated file image posted on a militant website on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014, which has been verified and is consistent with other AP reporting, shows fighters from the al-Qaida linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) marching in Raqqa, Syria. Across the broad swath of territory it controls from northern Syria through northern and western Iraq, the extremist group known as the Islamic State has proven to be highly organized governors.

This undated file image posted on a militant website on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014, which has been verified and is consistent with other AP reporting, shows fighters from the al-Qaida linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) marching in Raqqa, Syria. Across the broad swath of territory it controls from northern Syria through northern and western Iraq, the extremist group known as the Islamic State has proven to be highly organized governors.

Saturday, July 19, 2014

BEIRUT -- Islamic extremists killed at least 115 Syrian troops, guards and workers as they captured a gas field in central Syria after day-long clashes, activists said Friday.

More than 20 militants also died in the fighting Thursday for the Shaer gas field, the deadliest battle so far between fighters of the Islamic State group and forces loyal to President Bashar Assad.

Fighters from the Islamic State have in the past few weeks seized a huge chunk of territory straddling the Iraq-Syria border where they declared a self-styled Islamic rule. Earlier, they had captured much of Syria's oil-rich eastern province of Deir el-Zour.

The assault on the Shaer field, which lies in the desert region of Palmyra in the central province of Homs, began with a suicide bombing and an attack on army checkpoints Thursday, said an activist there who goes by the name Beibares Tellawi.

The militants seized the field after clashes with government forces that went on for 12 hours, Tellawi said.

"This is the biggest operation [by Islamic State fighters] against the regime in Homs province," Tellawi said, speaking via Skype from Homs.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 115 people on the government side were killed.

The observatory said 21 Islamic State fighters were killed during the battle, while Tellawi put the figure at 27.

An official in the Homs governor's office said he had no information on the attack.

He declined to give his name because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

The Syrian government rarely comments on deadly attacks targeting its forces.

The observatory and Tellawi both said that the fate of more than 200 people captured in the facility is unknown.

An amateur video said to be from the area and released by activists shows dozens of bodies strewn across a desert area.

It also shows jihadis with at least two rocket launchers and two tanks, which they claim were used in the fighting.

The video appeared genuine and corresponded to other reports of the events.

A website commonly used by militants showed similar photos, including ones depicting green ammunition boxes allegedly captured by the "lions of the Islamic State" in the fighting around the gas field, as well as artillery and a rocket launcher.

Information for this article was contributed by Sam Kimball of The Associated Press.

A Section on 07/19/2014