At least 10 people were killed and two wounded when terrorists attacked three vehicles taking workers to an oilfield in Syria’s eastern Deir Ezzor province, the official Sana news agency reported on Friday.
Syrian Oil Minister Bassam Tohme has accused “the US occupation and its elements and terrorist groups” of carrying out the attack to aggravate the suffering of the Syrian people.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 12 were killed in the attack near Al Taim oilfield and ISIS militants were responsible.
Oil and gasfields in the region are divided between the Assad regime and US-supported Kurdish militia.
The attack comes days after talks were held in Moscow between oil ministers from Syria, Russia and Turkey.
The meeting helped to thaw relations between Ankara and Damascus after the outbreak of the Syrian civil war 11 years ago raised tensions.
On Thursday, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces carried out an operation against ISIS after the group killed SDF fighters during an attack on a prison in Raqqa, north-west of Deir Ezzor province.
Raqqa was the last ISIS stronghold in Syria.
The SDF did not immediately respond to The National's questions about Friday's attack.
The SDF offensive, known as Operation Al Jazeera Thunderbolt, began after the group announced a state of emergency to find ISIS fighters who escaped during the attack.
The SDF also said ISIS militants carried out attacks in Deir Ezzor and Hassakeh, as well as Al Hol camp, which holds more than 60,000 ISIS extremists, fighters' wives and children.
On Thursday, the US Central Command said almost 700 ISIS militants were killed in more than 300 operations carried out this year across Syria and Iraq.
They were conducted in partnership with the SDF and the Iraqi Security Forces.
Other acts on the Jazz Garden bill
Sharrie Williams
The American singer is hugely respected in blues circles due to her passionate vocals and songwriting. Born and raised in Michigan, Williams began recording and touring as a teenage gospel singer. Her career took off with the blues band The Wiseguys. Such was the acclaim of their live shows that they toured throughout Europe and in Africa. As a solo artist, Williams has also collaborated with the likes of the late Dizzy Gillespie, Van Morrison and Mavis Staples.
Lin Rountree
An accomplished smooth jazz artist who blends his chilled approach with R‘n’B. Trained at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC, Rountree formed his own band in 2004. He has also recorded with the likes of Kem, Dwele and Conya Doss. He comes to Dubai on the back of his new single Pass The Groove, from his forthcoming 2018 album Stronger Still, which may follow his five previous solo albums in cracking the top 10 of the US jazz charts.
Anita Williams
Dubai-based singer Anita Williams will open the night with a set of covers and swing, jazz and blues standards that made her an in-demand singer across the emirate. The Irish singer has been performing in Dubai since 2008 at venues such as MusicHall and Voda Bar. Her Jazz Garden appearance is career highlight as she will use the event to perform the original song Big Blue Eyes, the single from her debut solo album, due for release soon.
Uefa Nations League: How it works
The Uefa Nations League, introduced last year, has reached its final stage, to be played over five days in northern Portugal. The format of its closing tournament is compact, spread over two semi-finals, with the first, Portugal versus Switzerland in Porto on Wednesday evening, and the second, England against the Netherlands, in Guimaraes, on Thursday.
The winners of each semi will then meet at Porto’s Dragao stadium on Sunday, with the losing semi-finalists contesting a third-place play-off in Guimaraes earlier that day.
Qualifying for the final stage was via League A of the inaugural Nations League, in which the top 12 European countries according to Uefa's co-efficient seeding system were divided into four groups, the teams playing each other twice between September and November. Portugal, who finished above Italy and Poland, successfully bid to host the finals.
Dubai World Cup nominations
UAE: Thunder Snow/Saeed bin Suroor (trainer), North America/Satish Seemar, Drafted/Doug Watson, New Trails/Ahmad bin Harmash, Capezzano, Gronkowski, Axelrod, all trained by Salem bin Ghadayer
USA: Seeking The Soul/Dallas Stewart, Imperial Hunt/Luis Carvajal Jr, Audible/Todd Pletcher, Roy H/Peter Miller, Yoshida/William Mott, Promises Fulfilled/Dale Romans, Gunnevera/Antonio Sano, XY Jet/Jorge Navarro, Pavel/Doug O’Neill, Switzerland/Steve Asmussen.
Japan: Matera Sky/Hideyuki Mori, KT Brace/Haruki Sugiyama. Bahrain: Nine Below Zero/Fawzi Nass. Ireland: Tato Key/David Marnane. Hong Kong: Fight Hero/Me Tsui. South Korea: Dolkong/Simon Foster.
CREW
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Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
