In Syria, twelve workers of an oil field killed in an attack attributed to the Islamic State

Twelve employees of an oil field under government control in eastern Syria were killed on Friday morning, December 30, in an attack attributed to the Islamic State (IS) group, the day after the launch of an anti-jihadist operation by Kurdish forces.

The attack, led by “cells” ISIS affiliates, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH), targeted buses carrying workers from the Al-Taym oil field, west of Deir ez-Zor. It is in this region of the vast Syrian steppe that the jihadists have entrenched themselves since the fall in March 2019 of their self-proclaimed caliphate and the loss of all their areas of control.

According to the director of the OSDH, Rami Abdel Rahmane, the attack began “by the detonation of explosive devices as buses passed, before IS elements opened fire on the vehicles” and kill twelve Syrian workers. For its part, the official Syrian news agency, SANA, reported that “Ten workers were killed and two others injured following a terrorist attack targeting three buses carrying workers” working in the oil field.

Syria’s oil minister, Bassam Tohmé, explained shortly afterwards on state television that one of the buses “had been hit by a rocket” and that four workers were injured. The authors of “terrorist attack (…) took advantage of poor weather conditions and early morning fog in the area”did he declare.

Similar attack in 2021

Last year, ISIS launched a similar attack on December 2, 2021, which resulted in the deaths of ten workers at the Al-Kharata oil field located 20 kilometers southeast of the city of Deir ez. -Zor.

The group’s attacks often target military bases and vehicles of government forces in the Badiya, the steppe that stretches between the provinces of Homs (Center) and Deir ez-Zor, on the border with Iraq. This Syrian desert is the scene of clashes in which Russian planes sometimes participate in support of government forces targeting IS positions and movements.

Since the beginning of the month, IS cells have increased the pace of their operations in the Badiya, mainly targeting government forces and pro-Iranian groups allied there. These attacks killed thirty-seven regime fighters, as well as two IS members and a civilian, according to a report from the Observatory on Monday.

This latest IS attack came a day after the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF, dominated by Kurdish fighters) launched an operation in the north and northeast of the country. The offensive led “with the participation of the international anti-jihadist coalition”, led by the United States, aims to “eliminate ISIS terrorist cells (…) and drive them out of areas that have been the scene of recent terrorist attacks”, the FDS said in a statement on Thursday. On Friday, they reported the arrest of “fifty-two IS mercenaries and facilitators of its terrorist operations, who were sheltering in residential areas”.

Anti-jihadist operation

The SDF operation comes three days after a deadly attack claimed by IS against their headquarters in Rakka (North) which left nine dead in their ranks and whose perpetrators failed to free jihadists from a jail. In its claim to Monday’s attack, IS said it wanted “to avenge” jihadists held by Kurdish forces.

Following this attack, the Kurdish autonomous administration declared a state of emergency and a curfew in Rakka, which the SDF had regained control in 2017 after heavy fighting with IS. The FDS report in their press release Thursday of “eight attempted attacks (…) against the camp of Al-Hol and in areas in Deir ez-Zor and Hassaké”in northeastern Syria.

Despite strikes, particularly from the United States, targeting its leaders, movements and positions, IS still manages to launch attacks, particularly in eastern and northeastern Syria. The war in Syria has claimed nearly half a million lives since 2011 and displaced several million people inside and outside the country.