Over 30 Syrian soldiers killed in clashes with IS

Over 30 Syrian troops were killed during overnight clashes with the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group near a key gas field in the country's central province of Homs, an oppositional monitoring group reported Wednesday.

The soldiers were killed during intense clashes that erupted overnight near al-Shaer natural gas field in the eastern countryside of Homs, Xinhua reported citing the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The observatory said the IS fighters were advancing into the area where they captured three gas wells Tuesday.

The al-Shaer natural gas field was captured by IS militants July 17, but Syrian troops recaptured it July 26.

The IS has self-proclaimed an "Islamic caliphate" in areas striding Syria and Iraq. It has also succeeded in capturing almost all the oil fields in the oil-rich province of Deir al-Zour in eastern Syria on the border with Iraq.