Homs

ISIS militants have captured the al-Shaer gas field, located 120 kilometers east of Homs. The pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV said the terrorists came to the rear of the Syrian army which is advancing eastwards into the desert and the Iraqi border. The key gas field in the central province of Homs has changed hands several times in the past between Syrian government forces and ISIS. The Islamic Sate is now partially in control of the al-Shaer gas field following three days of intense fighting.

Islamic State (IS) gunmen have cut the supply route of the Syrian government forces in the northern city of Aleppo, a day after their suicide bombers killed 150 people in Homs and Damascus. Xinhua English reports: The terror-designated group captured three points on the road to Aleppo overnight, said the pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV. It added that the Syrian army is working on reopening the road, the only supply route for the Syrian government to the city. Other reports said a large convoy of reinforcements has been sent from eastern Aleppo to help recapture the road.

Startling drone footage reveals the scale of destruction in Syria after nearly five years of conflict. Huffington Post reports: RT correspondent Murad Gazdiev and his crew flew a drone through Hom’s abandoned streets and over its buildings, revealing haunting aerial views of a lifeless city of rubble. Syria’s third largest city, Homs was once a thriving industrial centre. RT YouTube video: In 2011 it become known as the “capital of the revolution” against the Assad regime and consequently the scene of some of the heaviest battles of the Syrian civil war.

Last week we brought you drone footage from Homs, Syria’s third-largest city.

The clip was just the latest bit of evidence to support the contention that when the US and its allies seek to bring about regime change in the Mid-East, the results are very often far worse than whatever the political “problem” was in the first place.