Washington’s Allies Control Syria’s Most Important Gas Field

 Smoke rises from buildings in the area of Bughayliyah, on the northern outskirts of Deir ez-Zor on Sept. 13, as Syrian forces advance during their ongoing battle against ISIS. George Ourfalian/AFP
Smoke rises from buildings in the area of Bughayliyah, on the northern outskirts of Deir ez-Zor on Sept. 13, as Syrian forces advance during their ongoing battle against ISIS. George Ourfalian/AFP
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Washington’s Allies Control Syria’s Most Important Gas Field

 Smoke rises from buildings in the area of Bughayliyah, on the northern outskirts of Deir ez-Zor on Sept. 13, as Syrian forces advance during their ongoing battle against ISIS. George Ourfalian/AFP
Smoke rises from buildings in the area of Bughayliyah, on the northern outskirts of Deir ez-Zor on Sept. 13, as Syrian forces advance during their ongoing battle against ISIS. George Ourfalian/AFP

The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Deir Ezzor Military Council announced on Saturday that it seized the Conoco Gas Plant in the Deir Ezzor countryside after kicking out ISIS militants.

Before the start of the Syrian conflict in 2011, the Conoco field was one of the most important processing plants in the country and was used to supply cooking gas canisters for household use, with a capacity of 13 million cubic meters of natural gas per day, according to The Syria Report, an economic digest.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed the news and said the SDF managed to fully control the gas field of Conoco, the largest in Syria.

In Deir Ezzor, the last stronghold of ISIS in the country, there are two separate offensives launched against the terrorist organization: The first is led by the Syrian regime and its Russian ally and the second by the SDF, a Kurdish-Arabic alliance backed by the Coalition warplanes.

Meanwhile, in France, the presidential palace said in a statement that President Emmanuel Macron had "learned with great sadness" of the death of a soldier from the 13th regiment of paratroopers who were killed in combat in the Levant.

In Idlib, the Observatory reported more casualties due to the heavy airstrikes that targeted the area of Tel Mardikh in the eastern countryside of the province, where at least 22 militants were killed in airstrikes carried by warplanes believed to be Russian on a headquarter of al-Sham Corps in Tel Mardikh near Saraqeb.

It said the death toll is expected to increase due to the presence of injured people in serious conditions, while reliable sources asserted to the SOHR that tens of fighters are still missing under the rubble caused by the destruction of headquarters of Corps.



US Secretary of State Speaks with Lebanese Parliament Speaker about Situation

 Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri meets with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP)
Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri meets with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP)
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US Secretary of State Speaks with Lebanese Parliament Speaker about Situation

 Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri meets with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP)
Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri meets with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP)

Lebanon’s Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri received a phone call from the US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken on Friday, which lasted about 40 minutes, during which they discussed the situation in Lebanon amid the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, a statement from the speaker's office said.

The conflict erupted one year ago when the Iranian-backed group began launching rockets at northern Israel in support of the Palestinian group Hamas, at the start of the Gaza war.

It has intensified in recent weeks, with Israel bombing southern Lebanon, Beirut's southern suburbs and the Bekaa Valley, killing many of Hezbollah's top leaders, and sending ground troops across the border. Hezbollah for its part has fired rockets deeper into Israel.

Hezbollah deputy leader Naim Qassem had earlier this week said the party backed moves by Berri, a Hezbollah ally, to secure a halt to the fighting.

Israel says its campaign in Lebanon aims to make northern Israel safe for tens of thousands of people forced to leave over the last year by Hezbollah rocket fire.

Its expanded operation has displaced more than 1.2 million people, according to the Lebanese government, which says more than 2,100 people have been killed and more than 10,000 wounded in over a year of fighting.