Miltants storm Syrian city
BEIRUT: Islamic State militants stormed the Syrian city of Palmyra yesterday, seizing it from government forces in fierce fighting as civilians were evacuated and Syria’s antiquities chief called on the world to save its ancient monuments.
The capture of Palmyra is the first time the al-Qaeda offshoot has taken control of a city directly from the Syrian army and allied forces, which have lost ground in the northwest and south to other insurgent groups in recent weeks.
The central city, also known as Tadmur, is built alongside the remains of an oasis civilisation whose colonnaded streets, temple and theatre have stood for 2 000 years.
It is home to modern military installations, and sits on a desert highway linking the capital, Damascus, with Syria’s eastern provinces, mostly under rebel control.
“Praise God, Palmyra has been liberated,” said an Islamic State fighter speaking by internet from the area. He said the Islamic State was in control of a hospital in the city which Syrian forces had used as a base before withdrawing.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said the Islamic State had seized almost all of the city. It said it was unclear what had happened to forces stationed at an army outpost on its outskirts or the fate of a major military prison.
Syrian state television said pro-government National Defence Forces had evacuated civilians after large groups of Islamic State fighters had entered the city from the north.
“The news at the moment is very bad. There are small groups that managed to enter the city from certain points,” Syria’s antiquities chief, Maamoun Abdulkarim, said.
Hundreds of statues had been moved to safe locations, but he called on the Syrian army, the opposition and the international community to save the site.
“The fear is for the museum and the large monuments that cannot be moved,” he said.
The attack is part of a westward advance by the Islamic State that is adding to the pressures on the overstretched military and allied militia. – Reuters