Syrians gain turf in ISIS-held Palmyra

BEIRUT — Syrian government forces backed by Russian airstrikes have seized three neighborhoods inside Palmyra, a town with Roman-era ruins that fell to the Islamic State militant group last May, state media reported Saturday.

Russian jets carried out 40 air sorties near Palmyra, hitting 158 targets and killing more than 100 militants, Russia’s Defense Ministry said.

Syrian troops and allied militiamen have taken up positions in three neighborhoods that are part of the modern town, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group.

Palmyra, known as the “Bride of the Desert,” used to attract tens of thousands of tourists every year. The Islamic State drove out government forces in a matter of days and later demolished some of the best-known monuments in the UNESCO world heritage site. The extremists believe that ancient ruins promote idolatry.

The militants also demolished the town’s Tadmur prison, where thousands of Syrian government opponents were reported to have been tortured.

Retaking the town would be a major victory for President Bashar Assad’s government, which has made steady gains in recent months against the Islamic State and other insurgents.

Syria’s government has been assisted by Russia’s air campaign. Earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the pullout of some Russian warplanes from Syria but said strikes against the Islamic State and the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front would continue. Those groups have been excluded from a Russia- and U.S.-brokered cease-fire that began Feb. 27 and has largely held.

The battle for Palmyra, now entering its fourth week according to the Observatory, has not been easy. Government forces lost at least 18 soldiers on Friday, including a major general, the Observatory and Islamic State-affiliated media sites reported. The Observatory’s figures indicate that at least 56 soldiers died in fighting last week.

Footage broadcast on Lebanese stations aligned with the Syrian government showed smoke rising over Palmyra’s skyline, as tanks and helicopters fired at positions inside the town. The Islamic State began evacuating civilians last week to other parts of its territories in Syria. No civilians remain in the town, said a Palmyra resident who left earlier last week, speaking on condition of anonymity out of safety concerns.

The fate of the archaeological site was not immediately clear. Activists citing sources among advancing government troops said the two sides were fighting over the area, while the Observatory said government forces had retaken the site. Syrian state media made no mention of the area.

The head of Syria’s antiquities and museums authority described the condition of the remaining monuments — including the grand amphitheater, the market place, public baths, and a long colonnade — as “excellent,” with only minor damage, based on footage captured by a drone and broadcast on Russian television Friday.

Maamoun Abdulkarim, head of the government’s antiquities and museums department, said civil servants are prepared to assess the monuments and plan for their restoration “as soon as we are given the green light from the Syrian army.”

“We will present our studies to UNESCO so that Palmyra can once again be a world heritage site,” Abdulkarim said. “Palmyra is not just for Syrians, it is for the world.”

If Syrian government forces retake Palmyra, they will be positioned to advance on the two largest Syrian cities held by the Islamic State, Deir Ezzor and Raqqa.

The Islamic State is on the back foot in Iraq and Syria, where forces on the ground have been backed by U.S.-led airstrikes against the extremists. The U.S.-led international coalition estimates that the group has lost 40 percent of the territory it once held in Iraq and about 20 percent of its territory in Syria.

On Saturday, Turkish Air Force jets joined coalition forces in attacking the Islamic State in northern Iraq, hours after a Turkish soldier was killed at a military base in the region from rockets fired by the militants.