LATEST: Russia — US Operations Against Islamic State Could Be Disguise to Topple Assad

Fighting between the Islamic State and President Assad’s forces continues in the desert of central Syria, with the prospect of a renewed jihadist attack on a key gas field.

The Islamic State has briefly occupied the al-Sha’er field on two occasions. The Syrian military reclaimed it earlier this month, but battles continue west of the city of Palmyra (see map).

State news agency SANA says tersely this morning, “An army unit targeted terrorist groups and destroyed their weapons in the area surrounding al-Sha’er field, an important gas field used for supplying power-generating plants.”

Unconfirmed reports claimed on Friday that at least 21 Syrian troops and militia had been killed.

The Islamic State first took al-Sha’er in July, killing scores of security personnel.

However, the latest attacks, combined with the jihadist control of most of Syria’s oilfields, has escalated the regime’s difficulties with energy supplies as winter approaches. Last month, the Government reduced subsidies on diesel fuel and heating oil, raising their prices by up to 33%.

Syria commanders, including the Army Chief of Staff and the renowned Colonel Suhail al-Hassan (“The Tiger”) touring al-Sha’er after its recapture this month:

Russia: US Operations Against Islamic State Could Be Disguise to Topple Assad

Ahead of talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and a Syrian delegation in Moscow, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has put pressure on the US by accusing it of using operations against the Islamic State as a disguise to overthrow President Assad.

Lavrov said of the US aerial intervention since September, “Possibly…this is not so much an operation against Islamic State as the preparation for an operation to change the regime surreptitiously under the cover of this anti-terrorist operation.”

He continued, “The Americans say that Assad’s regime is a very important factor that brings terrorists to the region to try to topple him. I think this is absolutely perverted logic.”

The US has backed away from any move for regime change, informing Assad’s advisors before it launched the air attacks on the Islamic State. However, countries such as Turkey and France have insisted that any campaign must also bolster insurgents in their fight against Damascus.

Video: Islamic State Release Another Lecture from British Hostage John Cantile

The Islamic State has released a sixth video address by the British journalist John Cantile, abducted in November 2012 along with US colleague James Foley, who was executed in August.

Cantile lectures on the failed US raid to rescue the hostages and “how it feels to be left for dead by [my] own Government”: