Palmyra: Fierce battle for ancient Syrian city

Syrian army forces pass the Arch of Triumph in Palmyra in April

Control of the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra has been going back and forth between government forces and so-called Islamic State, reports say.

The governor of the province, Talal Barazi, told Syrian state television that IS had recaptured the city on Sunday. He said the army was using "all means" to regain control.

Thousands of civilians are streaming out of rebel-held areas of eastern Aleppo

Earlier on Sunday, it was reported that IS had been driven from the centre by heavy Russian air strikes. Mr Barazi's statement is the first acknowledgement from a Syrian government official that Palmyra had been retaken.


The army had pulled out of the city, he said - but insisted "the army is using all means to prevent the terrorists from staying in Palmyra." IS held the Unesco World Heritage site of Palmyra from May 2015 until they were forced out in March this year.

The group re-entered the city on Saturday, after launching an offensive earlier in the week. Moscow had said the Syrian army repelled IS with air support from its forces.

The Russian defence ministry said it had carried out 64 strikes during the operation, and claimed to have killed more than 300 militants. The Syrian army has also sent reinforcements to the city, reportedly diverting troops from Aleppo.

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The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Sunday morning that "intense" bombing from Russian planes had forced IS to withdraw to the orchards on the city's outskirts.

But it later reported that the militants had again fought their way into the town, forcing government forces to retreat to the south. Reports said IS militants had gone on the attack with suicide car bombs and artillery.

Palmyra is seen as strategic for IS because it lies close to oil fields. IS destroyed a number of monuments and beheaded the archaeological director during its 10-month occupation of the site and the adjacent city of Tadmur.

Two 2,000-year-old temples, an arch and funerary towers were left in ruins. The jihadist group, which has also demolished several pre-Islamic sites in neighbouring Iraq, believes that such structures are idolatrous.

The latest battle in Palmyra happened as the Syrian army closed in on the remaining rebel-held area of the city of Aleppo. Rebel forces said on Saturday that they had halted the advance of government forces in the pockets they still control in Aleppo.

One rebel commander said a reason for the slowed government advance could be the redeployment of troops to Palmyra.
However, the Syrian government has been continuously advancing on the rebel areas, backed by Russian air support, and now reportedly controls 93% of the city.

A rebel official told Reuters news agency that his forces faced "death or surrender" as their area of control continued to shrink. On Saturday, US Secretary of State John Kerry called on the Syrian government and the Russian military to "show a little grace" as they mopped up the remaining rebel-held areas of Aleppo.

He was speaking after a meeting in Paris of governments that back the Syrian opposition. US and Russian officials are due to meet in Geneva to discuss the possible evacuation of civilians and rebel fighters from Aleppo. But analysts say an agreement looks unlikely.