Post date: Nov 23, 2013 4:20:36 PM
Amateur video purports to show rebel forces in Syria capturing a major oil field in the east of the country.
SAID TO BE SHOT IN OMAR OIL FIELD, DEIR AL-ZOR, SYRIA (SAID TO BE SHOT ON NOVEMBER 23, 2013)(SOCIAL MEDIA WEBSITE) - Islamist rebels led by al Qaeda-linked fighters seized the largest oil field in eastern Syria on Saturday (November 23), activists said, a raid which would cut off President Bashar al-Assad's access to almost all local crude reserves.
There was no immediate comment from the government but amateur video uploaded to a social media website, which Reuters is unable to independently verify, appeared to show rebel forces taking control of al-Omar oil field.Losing the site would mean Assad's forces would be almost completely reliant on imported oil in their highly mechanised military campaign to put down a 2-1/2-year uprising.
It was not yet clear how much the loss of the field in Deir al-Zor province would affect Assad's government or battlefield abilities. But the pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said it would prove a major blow.
The Observatory said that now, nearly all of Syria's usable oil reserves were in the hands of the Nusra Front and other Islamist units.
Until the reported insurgent capture of the field, a pipeline transporting the crude to central Syria for refinement had still been working despite the civil war.
Assad is also believed to be getting fuel from Shi'ite Muslim giant Iran, his main regional ally.Tehran has been bankrolling the Syrian government's fight against the rebels and offering military support.
Rebels, pro-government forces and local tribes have been fighting each other and sometimes even among themselves to seize oil reserves in eastern Syria.
Rebels and local tribes in other parts of Deir al-Zor, which borders Iraq, had been burning the oil themselves and locally selling or smuggling the oil. Much of the money had been used to buy heavier weapons, according to locals.
Syria is not a significant oil producer and has not exported any oil since late 2011, when international sanctions took effect to raise pressure on Assad. Prior to the sanctions, the country exported 370,000 barrels per day, mainly to Europe.