US-backed militia captures Deir Ezzor oil field

US-backed militias said they captured Syria's largest oil field on Sunday, pressing their assault against Daesh in the east of the country.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said they took the Al Omar field on the eastern bank of the Euphrates river in the early hours.

"Our forces managed to liberate the fields without notable damages," said Lilwa al-Abdallah, spokeswoman for the offensive in Deir Ezzor province.

Daesh militants were holed up in buildings in a nearby district, where the SDF was trying to hunt them down, she said.

With US-led jets and special forces, the SDF has been battling in Deir Ezzor bordering Iraq.

The SDF, which is largely composed of YPG militants, has focused on territory east of the river, which bisects the oil-rich province.

Despite the YPG’s links with the PKK, which is on the US terror list, the US considers the YPG to be a key ally in the battle against Daesh in Syria.

The Syrian regime forces, with Russian air power and Iran-backed militias, has been waging its own separate offensive against Daesh, mostly to the west of the river.

The US-led coalition and the Russian military have been holding deconfliction meetings - to prevent clashes between planes and troops - though the two offensives have sometimes come into conflict.

Daesh has lost vast territory across Syria, and has now come under attack in its last footholds in a strip of the Euphrates valley and the desert in Deir Ezzor.

The SDF declared victory over Daesh in their former headquarters in Raqqa city this week. SDF fighters would now move to the frontlines in Deir Ezzor, speeding up the battle in eastern Syria.

Last month, the YPG-led militias captured a major natural gas field upstream of Sunday's advance.

The Al Omar oil field lies some 10 km (6.21 miles) north of the town of Al Mayadin, which regime forces and their allies took earlier this month. The town had turned into a major base for Daesh militants after the US-backed offensive drove them out of Raqqa.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Daesh militants who had withdrawn from the oil field mounted a counter-attack overnight against regime forces. The militants made some gains around Al Mayadin, the Britain-based monitor said.

But a Syrian regime forces source denied this, saying there was no significant attack and fighting raged on at the same pace.

Any attack by the Daesh militants there was a "desperate attempt," the source said.

The regime is “attacking, hitting Daesh positions...and advancing," the source said.