BEIRUT (AP) — Activists say members of the Islamic State group have captured an oil field in central Syria.

The activists say the extremists captured the Jazal oil field late Sunday after intense clashes with government forces in the area in the central province of Homs. Syria-based activist Bebars al-Talawy said via Skype that IS fighters first attacked army posts around the Jazal field then stormed it.

Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said Monday that all the engineers working in the field moved to the nearby government-controlled Shaer gas field.

He said government troops withdrew from the field but now overlook parts of it.

IS fighters control much of Syria's oil fields that are mostly in the eastern regions bordering Iraq.