Syrian army seizes country's largest oil field from Kurdish forces

Syrian troops fighting Kurdish forces in north-eastern Syria have seized the country's largest oilfield.The Omar facility and nearby gas fields are under army control after the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) pulled back, officials and monitors say. Earlier the army captured the strategic Tabqa Dam on the Euphrates River.The push came after the SDF announced it would redeploy east of the Euphrates, following deadly clashes last week. That withdrawal followed talks with US officials.Ongoing fighting in the area stems from the breakdown of an agreement between SDF and the government of President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who is seeking to integrate Kurdish bodies into Syrian institutions.On Friday, in an apparent good-will gesture, al-Sharaa said he would make Kurdish a national language and make the Kurdish new year an official holiday. The decree is the first formal recognition of Kurdish national rights since Syria's independence in 1946.The US-backed SDF then announced its pullout east of the Euphrates River. Kurdish forces have been controlling swathes of Syria's oil-rich north and north-east, much of it gained during the fight against the Islamic State group over the past decade.Over the weekend, Syrian troops continued their eastward push. They entered the town of Tabqa on the south-western bank of the Euphrates and nearby dam on Saturday.On Sunday, Syrian officials announced they had seized Omar, Syria's largest oil field, on the eastern side of the river. The facility has been a major source of revenue for the SDF.This claim was supported by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group. It said the SDF had withdrawn from "entire villages and towns of the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor [province]" as well as the Omar and Tanak oil fields early on Sunday.Meanwhile Syrian authorities accused the SDF of blowing up two bridges on the Euphrates River, including the new al-Rashid bridge in the city of Raqqa.Last week at least 12 people were reported killed in clashes between the two sides in the northern city of Aleppo.The latest fighting comes despite attempts by the US to broker a ceasefire. Washington has long backed the SDF, but it also supports the Syrian government.Following the ousting of longtime strongman Bashar al-Assad in late 2024, President al-Sharaa has been seeking to integrate Kurdish military and civilian bodies into Syria's national institutions.In March 2025, the SDF signed a deal with the government to that effect. Almost a year on, the agreement is still not implemented, with each side blaming the other.