DHAKA: Islamist militants have killed 270 Syrian regime fighters, civilian security guards and employees since seizing a gas field in Homs province.

A monitoring group said Saturday, reports gulfnews.com.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights described Thursday’s takeover of the Shaar field as ‘the biggest’ anti-regime operation by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis) since it emerged in Syria’s conflict last year.

The watchdog said it had documented ‘the death of 270 people killed in the fighting or executed’ since the takeover of the field in central Syria.

‘A large majority of the men killed were executed at gunpoint after being taken prisoner following the takeover of the camp,’ said Observatory director Rami Abdul Rahman.

‘Eleven of the dead were civilian employees, while the rest were security guards and National Defence Forces members,’ he added.

On Saturday, regime forces, a day after launching a counter-attack, had ‘re-taken large areas of Shaar’, according to Abdul Rahman.

‘Fighting is continuing around the gas field.’

BDST: 2011 HRS, JUL 19, 2014