'Islamic State' captures gas field in central Syria

The so-called Islamic State (IS), an al-Qaida breakaway group, has seized a natural gas field in central Syria after a wide-scale attack on Thursday morning, activists said.

The IS attacked the al-Shaer natural gas plant in the central province of Homs, killing 23 guards of the facility, the Britain- based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, adding that 340 members of the Syrian government forces and workers are still trapped in the field, while another 30 workers managed to escape.

According to local Day Press website, the governor of Homs has confirmed this attack, saying the Syrian government troops will unleash a counter-offensive to recapture the field.

Reports said that 15 IS fighters were killed in the attack.

The IS, previously known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, has recently self-proclaimed an Islamic Caliphate in areas striding Syria and Iraq. It has succeeded in capturing almost of the oil fields in the oil-rich province of Deir al-Zour in eastern Syria on the borders with Iraq.