Fighters from the self-declared jihadist group, the Islamic State, have seized a gas field in the desert region of Palmyra in the Syrian central province of Homs, a monitoring group and the governor of Homs said. The fighters on Thursday morning attacked the Shaer gas field, east of the ancient site of Palmyra, killing 23 guards, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. “The fate of 340 National Defence Force (paramilitary) members, guards, engineers and employees who were in the field, is unknown, as they were either taken prisoner or wounded during the operation,” said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman. The operation, he added, was the Islamic State’s “most important so far against the government” of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad. Abu Bilal, an activist linked to the Islamic State in Homs province, also reported the attack. At least 12 members of the Islamic State had been slain in […]