The News Minute | July 27, 2014 | 11:25 am IST

Damascus: The Syrian troops have recaptured a key gas field after intense fighting with militants of the Islamic State, the military said in a statement.

The Syrian army, backed by the National Defence Forces, on Saturday recaptured the al-Shaer gas field after a "precise and qualitative" operation in the central Homs province, Xinhua cited from the statement.

The statement said troops killed many militants during this operation.

The bomb squads dismantled mines and explosive devices the IS fighters had planted in that area, the statement added.

According to the statement, militants were members of the terrorist group Islamic State previously known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

The Islamic State seized control of the al-Shaer gas field July 17, prompting the Syrian troops to unleash a counter-offensive to restore control over the field.

The militants killed 270 soldiers at the gas field after seizing it.

The Islamic State has declared a self-proclaimed Islamic Caliphate in areas of Syria and Iraq. It has succeeded in capturing almost all the oil fields in the oil-rich province of Deir al-Zour in eastern Syria on the borders with Iraq.

With IANS