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Beirut, Lebanon – Syrian government troops reportedly retook the Shaar gas fields in Homs province on July 26, a week after the facility was captured by Islamic State fighters, in what many view as an alarming increase in hostility between the group and the Syrian regime.<\/p>\n
Footage distributed by Syrian state media showed victorious government troops celebrating atop tanks in what an official Syrian army statement described as a “precise operation in which dozens of terrorists were killed”.<\/p>\n
Islamic State sources later claimed that its fighters only pulled out after destroying the gas field’s equipment and plundering at least 15 tanks and dozens of rockets used to guard the facility.<\/p>\n
The incident is the latest in an escalation of tensions between Islamic State and the Syrian regime. The opposition-aligned Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that fighting between the two has left over 1,100 soldiers and pro-government fighters dead in the last month.
\nCritics, including the FSA, claim the two groups have largely avoided direct confrontation in Syria’s civil war, but clashes have become more frequent as the Islamic State group’s military and financial strength increases.<\/p>\n
“[The Islamic State group] is now looking to centralise and and stabilise its position. They are looking for financial sustainability and oil and gas can provide this. Their methods are quite sophisticated, almost professional,” said Sami Nader, a professor of economics and international relations at Beirut’s Saint Joseph University.<\/p>\n
“In some cases during assaults [the Islamic State group] has been careful to avoid damaging the infrastructure of refineries. In the fields they are said to have tried to assure some workers of their jobs and safety.”<\/p>\n