Intense fighting as troops enter Daesh-held Palmyra

Local activist claims Syrian forces still 5km from ancient town

damascus — Syrian government forces, backed by Russian air strikes, on Thursday pushed into the ancient town of Palmyra, which has been held by the Daesh group since May, state TV reported.

The advance came after the troops managed this week to capture several hills and high ground around the town, famed for its priceless archaeological site and Roman ruins. Syrian troops have been on the offensive for days in an attempt to capture the town.

The state TV broadcast footage of its reporter, embedded with the Syrian military, speaking live from the entrance of Palmyra and saying that as of midday Thursday, the fighting was concentrated near the archaeological site on the southwestern edge of the town.

Cracks of gunfire and explosions echoed as the reporter spoke. The TV also aired footage showing soldiers walking and SUVs driving near a building that appears to have been a hotel.

An unnamed Syrian soldier told the station he had one message for the Daesh group: “You will be crushed under the feet of the Syrian Arab Army.”

The Daesh group called on civilians still living in Palmyra to leave.

Recapturing the town, a Unesco world heritage site, would be a significant victory for Syria’s army and its Russian allies.

Turkey-based activist Osama Al Khatib, who is originally from Palmyra, denied that Syrian troops had entered the town. He said they were still on the edge of Palmyra and that the video seen on Syrian state TV shows the area about 5km from Palmyra.

Earlier in the day, Governor Talal Barazi said from the nearby city of Homs that the Syrian army has determined three directions to storm

We might witness in the next 48 hours an overwhelming victory in Palmyra

Talal Barazi, Iraqi governor

Palmyra and was clearing all roads leading into the town of mines and explosives.

“We might witness in the next 48 hours an overwhelming victory in Palmyra,” Barazi said over the phone, adding that “the army is advancing in a precise and organised way to protect what is possible of monuments and archaeological sites”.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Syrian troops and militiamen helping them on the ground were facing tough resistance from Daesh extremists.

The Observatory said the Daesh lost over 200 militants since the gov- ernment campaign to retake Palmyra began 17 days ago. It did not have figures for government losses.

In neighbouring Lebanon, the Al Manar TV station, which belongs to the militant Hezbollah group that is fighting with Syrian troops, reported that Syrian government forces were in full control of the hotels area and farms on the western edge of Palmyra on Thursday.

Palmyra attracted tens of thousands of tourists to Syria every year and is affectionately known by Syrians as the “bride of the desert”.

In Palmyra, the Daesh destroyed many of the town’s Roman-era relics, including the 2,000-year-old Temple of Bel and the iconic Arch of Triumph, and also killed dozens of captive Syrian soldiers and dissidents from Daesh in public slayings at the town’s grand roman theater and other ruins.

Along with blowing up priceless archaeological treasures, among the first destructions Daesh carried out in Palmyra was the demolishing of the town’s infamous Tadmur prison, where thousands of Syrian government opponents had been imprisoned and tortured over the years.

Only some 15,000 of Palmyra’s 70,000 residents stayed on under Daesh rule, which saw atrocities including public beheadings in the city’s ancient amphitheatre, according to Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman. “The vast majority had already fled — only those too poor to flee stayed behind,” he said. —

Iraq forces in Makhmur have begun their advance towards Qayyarah to the south of Mosul

Araz Mirkhan, Peshmerga official