syria army enters isheld palmyra
Saturday 19 July 2025
Last Updated : GMT 05:17:37
Emiratesvoice, emirates voice

After fierce clashes with Daesh

Syria army enters IS-held Palmyra

Emiratesvoice, emirates voice

Emiratesvoice, emirates voice Syria army enters IS-held Palmyra

Part of the remains of Arch of Triumph
Beirut - Arab Today

Syria's army entered the ancient city of Palmyra late Wednesday after fierce clashes with the Islamic State jihadist group, several weeks into a Russian-backed assault, a monitoring group said.

"The army has entered a western neighbourhood of Palmyra and has seized control of part of it" from IS, Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP. 

"There are clashes and heavy shelling" across the historic city, where control has changed hands repeatedly over the past two years, said the monitoring group's chief.

Abdel Rahman said earlier that Syrian forces, backed by Russian soldiers, had captured a string of hilltops overlooking Palmyra, bringing them within firing range of its western half.

"They are close to capturing the citadel. IS withdrew from it, but they may have left suicide bombers inside," he said.

Supported by Russian air strikes and ground troops, government forces have been battling for weeks through the desert in the central province of Homs to reach Palmyra. 

IS jihadists first seized Palmyra in May 2015 and began to systematically destroy the city's monuments and temples, while also looting its many archeological treasures.

They were driven out in March 2016 but recaptured the town last December.

Syrian state media confirmed Wednesday that government forces were now in control of key territory around Palmyra. 

"Seizing control of Mount Hilal and other hilltops overlooking Palmyra is an important step towards the collapse of the terrorist groups in the city," state news agency SANA said.

And a senior military source in Damascus told AFP earlier on Wednesday that the army had also reached a strategic crossroads leading into Palmyra.

"This crossroads is the key to entering the city," the source told AFP.

IS has ravaged the city's celebrated heritage, blowing up funerary towers and carrying out mass executions in the city's Roman theatre. 

Last month, IS destroyed Palmyra's tetrapylon monument, while satellite images showed damage to the theatre's facade. 

The new destruction was condemned by the United Nations as a "war crime." 

On Wednesday, two funeral busts damaged by IS after it first captured Palmyra were brought back to Syria after being restored in Italy.

The two busts, recovered by Syrian troops, had been badly disfigured with what appeared to be hammer blows.

Modern technology -- including a 3-D printer -- was used in the restoration of the busts which date to the second and third centuries and had been transferred to Rome via Lebanon.

- Turkey-backed forces, Kurds clash -

On another front in the multi-pronged battle against IS, Turkish-backed rebels Wednesday seized two northern villages in Aleppo province from US-supported forces led by Kurdish fighters, rebels and the Observatory said.

The rebels advanced east of Al-Bab, which they captured last week from IS, into territory held by the Syrian Democratic Forces, which is dominated by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) that Ankara considers a "terrorist" organisation.

Rebels said they "captured the villages of Tal Turin and Qara... after violent clashes" with the YPG.

A top US general, meanwhile, said Russian warplanes on Tuesday bombed American-backed fighters in several small villages near Al-Bab after they mistakenly thought IS forces were in the area.

"We had some Russian aircraft and regime aircraft bomb some villages that I believe they thought were held by ISIS (IS), yet... actually on the ground were some of our Syrian Arab Coalition forces," Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend told reporters in a video call from Baghdad.

Control of Aleppo province is divided between a myriad of armed groups -- rebels, jihadists, Kurdish militia and Syrian government forces.

Source: AFP

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

syria army enters isheld palmyra syria army enters isheld palmyra

 



Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

syria army enters isheld palmyra syria army enters isheld palmyra

 



GMT 09:54 2018 Wednesday ,24 January

'Friendly and kind' N. Korean skaters

GMT 13:28 2013 Saturday ,16 February

Helen Boaden becomes director of BBC Radio

GMT 23:14 2017 Wednesday ,07 June

Actor Abbas Al Nuri praises success

GMT 13:31 2012 Thursday ,16 February

Return bin Laden\'s wife to Yemen

GMT 14:28 2017 Monday ,18 September

Dubai Municipality signs partnership agreement

GMT 21:36 2016 Monday ,10 October

Suicide Attack Foiled in West-central Tunisia

GMT 11:03 2013 Friday ,15 February

Lebanon\'s music industry is wrong

GMT 15:41 2017 Thursday ,14 September

New smart system to make Dubai visa medical

GMT 20:16 2017 Wednesday ,25 January

Chinese Shares Close Higher Wednesday

GMT 09:19 2017 Tuesday ,19 December

Nelly Karim happy for her advertising campaign

GMT 15:40 2017 Monday ,18 December

The UAE to spread national identity

GMT 10:18 2015 Thursday ,08 October

Energy-guzzling snow parks boom in sizzling Thailand

GMT 11:13 2016 Saturday ,24 September

Marriott's Starwood purchase makes largest hotel chain

GMT 11:48 2017 Saturday ,07 October

Japan's Denso unveils $1 bn investment

GMT 07:32 2017 Wednesday ,23 August

Dozens reported dead in US-led strikes

GMT 12:18 2012 Wednesday ,18 April

Hyrax syntax skills \'surprise\'

GMT 14:07 2016 Wednesday ,23 November

Bono recruits Julia Roberts for AIDS fight

GMT 16:49 2012 Tuesday ,10 January

Oliveira nets hat-trick in President\'s Cup romp

GMT 16:03 2011 Friday ,17 June

Huge mirrors in the sky will be the future

GMT 10:11 2012 Thursday ,04 October

Psy brings \'Gangnam Style\' home with free show

GMT 10:44 2012 Tuesday ,21 February

Nancy Ajram: I love Tunisians

GMT 20:41 2012 Thursday ,24 May

Israel\'s fear of Jewish girls dating Arabs

GMT 00:13 2015 Tuesday ,24 February

Drunk in love: Rats recover when given oxytocin
Emiratesvoice, emirates voice
 
 Emirates Voice Facebook,emirates voice facebook  Emirates Voice Twitter,emirates voice twitter Emirates Voice Rss,emirates voice rss  Emirates Voice Youtube,emirates voice youtube  Emirates Voice Youtube,emirates voice youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2025 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2025 ©

emiratesvoieen emiratesvoiceen emiratesvoiceen emiratesvoiceen
emiratesvoice emiratesvoice emiratesvoice
emiratesvoice
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
emiratesvoice, Emiratesvoice, Emiratesvoice