Syria's military has captured the country's main energy-producing area in the east of the country from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, the state oil company said on Sunday.
It is a stinging defeat for the group that had ruled the region for years but now faces the threat of extinction.
The capture of Al Omar oilfield and the Conoco gasfield, as well as others, was the first full-scale foray by government forces into SDF-held areas east of the Euphrates, after overrunning defensive positions on the western side of the river in the past few days.
A statement by the Syrian Petroleum Company listed the two fields among those over which "the Syrian Arab Army has spread its control" in Deir Ezzor governorate. As soon as the fields are fully secure, "operation and production" will resume.
-
Syrian government military reinforcements and mobile armour on the M4 motorway to Maskanan, 100 kilometres south-east of Aleppo city, on Saturday, January 17, to push Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces out of the area following clashes last week. Getty Images -
Celebrations as Syrian government reinforcements arrive. Getty Images -
Syrian special forces have entered Raqqa district, putting pressure on the Kurdish forces withdrawing from the towns of Deir Hafer and Maskana, as well as a military airport. AFP -
A welcome for the Syrian army following the withdrawal of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Maskanah. Reuters -
Kurdish forces in a pick-up truck on the outskirts of the city of Tabqa in Raqqa province. AFP -
Kurdish forces at Tabqa city limits. AFP -
Syrian government forces fire a rocket towards Kurdish forces near Dibsi Faraj in northern Syrian. AFP -
Signs of combat litter the roads as Syrian government forces move near the front line in Dibsi Faraj, in northern Syria. AFP -
Syrian government forces rest near the front line in Dibsi Faraj, in northern Syria. AFP -
Nechirvan Barzani, President of Iraqi Kurdistan, right, greets US special envoy to Syria Tom Barrack in Erbil. Mr Barrack and Mazloum Abdi, the head of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, arrived in Erbil on January 17. AFP
A Syrian official told The National army formations as well as tribal fighters who have turned against the SDF over the past several days are on the outskirts of Al Jazeera, part of Deir Ezzor. The eastern side is still under SDF control.
"In military terms, Deir Ezzor has practically fallen," the official said, with the army expected to take the eastern sector without any significant fighting. He said troops were also on the outskirts of the main city of Raqqa, near two bridges on the Euphrates that the SDF had destroyed.
The SDF withdrew from the area early on Saturday as a gesture of goodwill but then accused Syrian troops of breaking the agreement by continuing to push farther east into towns and oilfields not included in the deal. The lack of resistance has enabled the government's lightning offensive.
During Syria's civil war, which broke out in 2011, the SDF, with US support, became one of the country's most powerful groups. It acquired mostly Arab-populated territory until a Turkish intervention in 2015 curbed its gains.
However, the current Syrian authorities have been gradually capturing SDF-held areas for a year, with the militia's last strongholds in Aleppo city falling last week.
Days of clashes
Late on Saturday, the government said its forces had captured the northern city of Tabqa and dams, despite US calls to halt its advance.
Syrian state media said the army had taken over the city, its adjacent dam and the Freedom dam west of Raqqa city. The SDF have not acknowledged their loss of control. Clashes were extending into areas of Deir Ezzor as the army made a lightning advance.
US Central Command commander Admiral Brad Cooper called on Syrian troops to “cease any offensive actions in areas” between the city of Aleppo and the town of Tabqa, a distance of about 160 kilometres farther east.
Much of the border between the Kurdish-led authorities and land run by Syria’s central government flanks the Euphrates, with the western bank controlled by Damascus and the eastern managed by Kurdish authorities.
But the SDF has long held pockets on the river’s western side, including Aleppo's Kurdish-majority districts that it lost in fighting earlier this month, as well as positions in the eastern Aleppo countryside.
After the Syrian army announced on Saturday that it had taken control of the town of Deir Hafir, along with Maskanah and more than a dozen other towns and villages in eastern Aleppo, it pushed its advance farther east.
Both sides accused each other of atrocities in the areas where fighting was taking place. The Syrian government said it condemned the alleged "execution of prisoners and detainees" in Tabqa by the SDF "prior to their withdrawal". The Kurdish forces denied, claiming they had “transferred all prisoners from Church Prison in Tabqa to secure locations outside the city as a responsible precautionary measure”, three days before the clashes erupted.
The US has had to recalibrate its Syria policy to balance years of backing for the SDF – which fought against ISIS – against Washington's new support for Syrian President Ahmad Al Shara, whose rebel forces removed dictator Bashar Al Assad from power in late 2024.
In an effort to end the fighting, US envoy Tom Barrack was in Erbil on Saturday to meet SDF commander Mazloum Abdi and Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani, who has been playing a leading role in mediation efforts.
Tension rose sharply after five days of deadly clashes between government forces and SDF-affiliated fighters last week in Aleppo, over the control of three Kurdish-majority pockets, where the SDF has long been positioned. The fighting killed dozens of civilians, the SDF said, with many still missing, according to officials.
The violence has moved the two sides closer to a broad military confrontation.
