Kurdish-led SDF withdraws from Al-Omar oil field as Syrian government troops advance in the north and east, with international calls for de-escalation.
TABQA: Kurdish-led forces withdrew from Syria’s largest oil field on Sunday as government troops extended their control over northern and eastern territories.
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) pulled out “from all areas under its control in the eastern Deir Ezzor countryside, including the Al-Omar and Tanak oil fields”, said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Al-Omar was home to the United States’ largest base in Syria before the withdrawal.
The move follows the government’s announcement that it had retaken two other oil fields, Safyan and Al-Tharwa, in Raqa province.
An AFP correspondent in Tabqa saw government armoured vehicles and tanks around the city, with security personnel patrolling the streets.
Intermittent gunfire could be heard from what one security officer said were limited clashes with the SDF.
Shops were closed, but some residents milled around outside their homes.
“We have suffered a lot, and I hope that the situation will improve with the arrival of the Syrian army,” resident Ahmad Hussein told AFP.
The government’s push has captured Arab-majority areas that came under Kurdish control during the fight against the Islamic State group.
Both sides have reported several casualties after an agreement for the Kurds to pull back from areas near Aleppo collapsed.
The Kurdish administration accused government forces of attacking their fighters “on multiple fronts”.
The army said the SDF was not fulfilling a commitment to “fully withdraw” east of the Euphrates river.
Kurdish authorities ordered a curfew in the Raqa region after the army designated a swathe of territory a “closed military zone”.
The Deir Ezzor governorate announced that “all public institutions and official departments are closed”.
US envoy Tom Barrack met Syrian Kurdish leader Mazloum Abdi on Saturday, and the US Central Command urged government forces “to cease any offensive actions”.
France’s President Emmanuel Macron and the president of Iraqi Kurdistan called for de-escalation and a ceasefire.
Turkey, which views Kurdish fighters as a security threat, has praised Syria’s operation.
Imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan reportedly sees the situation as an attempt to sabotage the peace process with Turkey.
Kurdish authorities called for demonstrations on Sunday in several places including Qamishli.
