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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Syrian Army Pushes IS Back from Ancient Palmyra after 300 Killed in 4 Days |
| 2015-05-18 |
| [AnNahar] Syrian troops pushed Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... group jihadists back from the ancient city of Palmyra on Sunday, easing fears over the world heritage site, after fighting that left hundreds dead. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said nearly 300 people have been killed in four days of fighting since IS launched an assault on the desert oasis city on Wednesday. The toll comprised 123 soldiers and loyalist militiamen, 115 IS fighters as well as 57 civilians, dozens of whom were executed by the jihadists, the Observatory said, quoting sources on the ground. On Saturday the jihadists pressed their offensive and seized the northern part of the modern town of Palmyra, known as Tadmur in Arabic, but were driven out by regime forces. "IS' attack was foiled," said provincial governor Talal Barazi. He told AFP the army was "still combing the streets for bombs" after recapturing the northern districts. "The situation in the city and its outskirts is good," he said. But the Observatory said festivities were still under way Sunday in the northern suburb of al-Amiriyah, around the prison east of the city and around Haql al-Hail gas field northeast of Palmyra. Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said the jihadists were still just a kilometer (less than a mile) away from the UNESCO-listed heritage site and its adjacent museum housing thousands of priceless artifacts. "IS is still present outside the city, to the south and east," Abdel Rahman said. Syrian antiquities chief Mamoun Abdulkarim expressed relief that IS, known for its wanton destruction of archaeological sites in territory it controls in Syria and Iraq, did not attack the site. "We have good news today, we feel much better," Abdulkarim told AFP by telephone. "There was no damage to the ruins, but this does not mean we should not be afraid." The jihadists launched their offensive from their stronghold in the Euphrates Valley to the east, triggering ferocious fighting with the army, which has a major base just outside Palmyra. The antiquities chief said he had been "living in a state of terror" that IS would destroy the first and second century temples and colonnaded streets that are among Palmyra's architectural treasures. Abdulkarim said he remained concerned for Palmyra in light of the destruction wreaked by IS on pre-Islamic sites such as Nimrud and Hatra in neighboring Iraq. On Thursday, UNESCO chief Irina Bokova appealed to Syrian troops and jihadists to spare Palmyra, which the organization describes as one of the most important cultural centers of the ancient world. Governor Barazi, meanwhile, voiced concern for the population, saying the fighting had forced civilians in the countryside to swamp Palmyra, home to 70,000 people. "We are taking all necessary precautions, and we are working on securing humanitarian aid quickly in fear of masses fleeing from the city," he said. Barazi said the army had recaptured strategic locations including hilltops, checkpoints and Palmyra's television tower in the northwest which IS had overrun. Troops also killed more than 130 jihadists, he said. IS posted pictures online of what it said was one of two checkpoints fighters seized inside Haql al-Hail gas field, triggering more festivities with pro-regime forces. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |