ISIS is making another push against the valuable Sha’ar Gas Field in Syria today, with at least 30 troops and paramilitary fighters killed, and the field once again under serious risk of falling.
ISIS had previously seized Sha’ar in July, killing 115 troops in the initial push and executing hundreds of others captured in the fight. Syrian troops eventually retook the field, at least temporarily.
Now, it seems, ISIS is back in, and has taken at least three of the wells overnight in large-scale fights. The Syrian military has yet to launch a major counteroffensive, but one is likely.
Yet the fact that ISIS is able to attack Sha’ar again at all speaks volumes, with such a big deal being made of the Kobani fight. ISIS, it seems, is not only able to keep contesting Kobani, but is also moving on against other targets in Syria.