Syrian Army captures large oil & gas fields in east, dislodges Kurdish forces

Syrian troops fighting Kurdish-led forces seized the Omar oil field, Syria's largest, and the Conoco gas field in the country's east, three security sources said on January 18, per Reuters.

Meanwhile, the Syrian outlet SANA reports that Syrian Arab Army units seized the strategic city of al-Tabqa after expelling terrorist PKK militias from the area.

The Command announced in a statement that the Syrian army forces extended their control over the Euphrates Dam, securing the site and restoring stability to the surrounding area.

Syria's state media said that the army took over the major Freedom dam, formerly known as the Baath, west of the Syrian city of Raqaa. It came despite US calls to halt the advance.

The local outlets say the army has taken control of swathes of the country’s north, dislodging Kurdish forces from territory over which they held effective autonomy for more than a decade.

The government appeared to be extending its grip on Kurdish-run areas after the Syrian president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, issued a decree declaring Kurdish a national language and granting the minority group official recognition.

The army advanced after the implementation of a March 2025 deal – intended to integrate Kurdish forces into the state – stalled.

Government troops drove Kurdish forces from two Aleppo neighbourhoods last week and on Saturday took control of an area east of the city.

For days, Syrian troops had amassed around a cluster of villages that lie just west of the winding Euphrates and had called on the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) stationed there to redeploy their forces on the opposite bank of the river. They have been clashing over strategic posts and oilfields along the Euphrates River.

By Khagan Isayev