(Beirut) Twelve employees of an oil field under regime control in eastern Syria were killed on Friday in an attack attributed to the Islamic State (IS) group, the latest attack by the jihadist organization in this country.
The attack, carried out by IS “cells” according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH), targeted buses carrying workers from the Al-Taym field west of Deir Ezzor, a desert region where jihadists have taken refuge after being driven out of all their strongholds in Syria in 2019.
“Devices exploded as the buses passed which were then the target of jihadist fire,” said the director of the Observatory, Rami Abdel Rahmane. Twelve Syrian workers perished.
In Damascus, the official SANA news agency reported that ten workers were killed and at least two injured “in a terrorist attack targeting three buses carrying employees” of the oil field.
According to Syrian Oil Minister Bassam Tohmé, one of the buses “was hit by a rocket”.
In December 2021, IS launched a similar attack killing ten workers at the al-Kharata oil field, southeast of Deir Ezzor.
A large number of jihadists have taken refuge in the badia (desert), which stretches from the central Syrian province of Homs to the eastern border with Iraq, passing through the province of Deir Ezzor.
Since early December, IS has stepped up attacks in the badia, mainly targeting regime forces and pro-Iranian groups allied with them and killing 37 fighters, according to the OSDH. Two jihadists and a civilian also died there.
Anti-ISIS Operation
Syria is fragmented by the war that started in 2011. Bashar al-Assad’s regime has taken over most of the territory, but Syrian Kurdish forces, spearheading the fight against IS, control large areas in the north and north – east of the country.
In their fight against ISIS, the Kurds are aided by an international anti-jihadist coalition led by the United States which deploys soldiers in northern Syria.
On Thursday, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF, dominated by Kurdish fighters) announced that it had launched “with the participation of the international coalition an operation” in several regions, including those of Al-Hol and Al-Hassaké, aimed at “drive out ISIS terrorist cells […] areas targeted by recent terrorist attacks”.
The FDS then reported the arrest of “52 jihadists and collaborators who were hiding in residential areas”, according to a press release.
On Monday, IS claimed responsibility for an attack on the SDF headquarters in Raqa, in which six members were killed. The jihadist group claimed to want to “revenge” its comrades detained by Kurdish forces.
Despite its defeat and the blows inflicted by the Kurds and the coalition, IS still manages to launch attacks.
Events
Several foreign powers are involved in the war in Syria, where nearly half a million people have been killed since 2011.
Ally of the Assad regime, which it helps militarily, Russia brought together the Syrian and Turkish defense ministers on Wednesday after a freeze between the two countries since 2011.
According to analysts, Moscow plays a key role in the rapprochement between Damascus and Ankara, united by a common “adversary” represented by Kurdish fighters.
A neighbor of Syria, Turkey has been since 2011 the most important political and military support for the Syrian opposition. It also deploys troops in northern Syria alongside Syrian rebels who are loyal to it.
On Friday, hundreds of Syrians demonstrated in towns controlled by pro-Ankara rebels in Al-Bab (north) and Idlib (northwest), to denounce the Syrian-Turkish meeting and affirm their rejection of any “reconciliation” with the system of government.
The same day, the Syrian Democratic Council, the political arm of the SDF also criticized the meeting, calling on the Syrians to “face this alliance”.