The ISIL group clashed with local tribes seeking to control oil and gas-rich regions of the war-hit country.
World Bulletin / News Desk
Militants led by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – ISIL – captured Wednesday Suwayda village near Syria’s eastern city of Deir ez-Zor, said Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR).
Deir ez-Zor, the oil and gas-rich Syrian city, has been under siege from the militant group who also blocked humanitarian aid and medical relief materials reaching the city.
The militant group warned people in all villages controlled by the Sunni tribe Shaitat to evacuate the area within 24 hours, according to SNHR, which tracks civilian and opposition casualties.
The SNHR statement added that ISIL militants seized Suwayda village following recent clashes with local tribes in the region.
Despite being a former supporter of the militant group, Shaitat tribesmen have recently begun fighting against ISIL after militants abducted its three members.
The clashes reportedly pursue between ISIL militants and Syria’s armed opposition groups in northern regions of Syria’s Aleppo, having left scores of militants dead.
The threat from the armed groups spearheaded by ISIL has added to the already volatile security situation in civil war-ridden Syria, as they are battling with the opposition groups in the country in a bid to expand their territory.
The militants are seeking control of oilfields in the country to secure a source of income for their so-called caliphate.
Having taken the Raqqa oil fields in the north of Syria last November, ISIL militants have continued to seize large amounts of territory in Iraq since June 10 when they captured the northern city of Mosul, including the largest oil refinery, Baiji, which is said to hold about 17 percent of Iraq’s entire oil reserves.
They also seized Syria’s largest oil field, al-Omar, on July 3.
Late July, the United Nations Security Council expressed “grave concern” over the seizure of oilfields and pipelines by rebel groups in Iraq and Syria, noting that they could use the energy resources to generate a rich source of income and improve their “capacity to attack.”
http://www.worldbulletin.net/haber/142023/isil-seizes-village-in-syrias-oil-rich-deir-ez-zor
