Syrian opposition claim capture of key oil field

Syrian opposition fighters, including members of the al-Qaeda affiliated al-Nusra Front, seized a key oil field considered to be one of the biggest in Syria, a monitor group said on Saturday.

“Fighters from al-Nusra and other groups have taken the Omar oil field in Deir Ezzor province after clashes overnight,” the Observatory director, Rami Abdel Rahman, told Agence France-Presse.

Abdel Rahman said government troops had withdrawn from the field.

A video posted online by opposition activists showed fighters milling around an entrance to the field, as others drove a tank said to have been captured from regime troops after they withdrew.

Speaking directly to the camera, one activist said fighters had captured seven tanks.

The opposition took its first oil field last year. Since then, groups operating in rebel-held territory have begun producing oil for sale on the black market.