Kurdish forces withdraw from Syria’s largest oil field as govt forces advance

AFP | Tabqa

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Kurdish-led forces withdrew yesterday from Syria’s largest oil field, a conflict monitor said, as government troops extended their grip over swathes of territory in the country’s north and east.

The push came after President Ahmed al-Sharaa issued a decree granting the Kurds official recognition in an apparent goodwill gesture, even as his Islamist government seeks to assert its authority across Syria after the ousting of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in 2024.

The Kurds’ de facto autonomous administration, which controls large parts of the northeast, has said the announcement fell short, while the implementation of a deal to integrate Kurdish forces into the state has been stalled for months.

Early Sunday, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) suddenly withdrew “from all areas under its control in the eastern Deir Ezzor countryside, including the Al-Omar and Tanak oil fields”, the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman, told AFP.

He said the SDF withdrawal in Deir Ezzor and Raqa provinces came as “fighters from local tribes, including Arab fighters who are part of the SDF, advanced in coordination with government troops”.

The areas are now effectively controlled by government forces, the Observatory said.

Al-Omar is the country’s largest oil field, and was home to the United States’ largest base in Syria. It had been controlled by Kurdish-led forces since 2017 after the Islamic State jihadist group was pushed out.

The Kurds’ reported withdrawal from Al-Omar follows the government’s announcement that it had retaken two other oil fields, Safyan and Al-Tharwa, in Raqa province.

The government’s push has so far captured Arab-majority areas that came under Kurdish control during the fight against IS, whose defeat in Syria was secured with the help of the US-backed SDF.

Energy Minister Mohammad al-Bashir said the return of the area’s resources to state control “means opening the door wide for reconstruction, revitalising agriculture, energy and trade”.