IS militants in Syria killed at least 30 pro-government fighters in an assault on a gas field that has witnessed some of the bloodiest confrontations between the two sides, a monitoring group said on Wednesday.
IS seized the Sha’ar gas field in July, killing some 350 government troops, allied militiamen, guards and staff, according to a Britain-based group calling itself Syrian Observatory for Human Rights as reported by Reuters.
Government forces recaptured the field, east of the central city of Homs, later that month.
In a new round of fighting on Tuesday, IS seized three wells and killed at least 30 government and pro-government fighters, said the group. Clashes continued overnight, it said.
Large-scale fighting between the Syrian government and IS was relatively rare until the summer, when the mliitants began seizing government positions, including a series of military bases in the northern Raqqa province.
Fighting between the two has continued since US-led forces began bombing IS positions in Syria last month. The United States says it is not coordinating with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces.
The Syrian government has concentrated many of its forces on fighting other mliitant groups throughout the country including the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front as well other groups considered more moderate and backed by the US and its allies.
