syria army retakes ancient palmyra from is group
Last Updated : GMT 05:17:37
Emiratesvoice, emirates voice
Emiratesvoice, emirates voice
Last Updated : GMT 05:17:37
Emiratesvoice, emirates voice

Syria army retakes ancient Palmyra from IS group

Emiratesvoice, emirates voice

Emiratesvoice, emirates voice Syria army retakes ancient Palmyra from IS group

Syrian regime fighters take position as they advance to retake the ancient city of Palmyra, from Islamic State
Ankara - Arab today

Syrian troops backed by Russian jets completed the recapture of the historic city of Palmyra from the Islamic State (IS) militant group Thursday, the Kremlin and the army said, in another blow to the Islamist militants.

Bolstered by air strikes and ground troops from their ally Moscow, Syrian forces battled through the desert for weeks to reach Palmyra.

The oasis city has traded hands several times during Syria's six-year civil war and become a symbol of IS's wanton destruction of priceless cultural heritage in areas under its control.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu informed President Vladimir Putin of Palmyra's recapture, a Kremlin spokesman told news agencies in Moscow.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitoring group, said that the Islamist militants had totally withdrawn from the desert city but not before mining several areas.

"The Syrian army is still clearing neighbourhoods of mines and has not spread out into the whole city yet," said its director, Rami Abdel Rahman.

An army statement carried on state news agency SANA said its forces had "regained control over Palmyra and surrounding territory after a series of successful military operations".

IS has suffered a string of setbacks since taking over swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria in 2014, and its two main strongholds of Mosul and Raqa both face assaults by forces backed by a US-led coalition.

The Islamist militants first seized Palmyra in May 2015 and began to systematically destroy and loot the UNESCO world heritage site's monuments and temples.

They were driven out in March 2016 but recaptured the city in December when the government was focused on seizing rebel-held east Aleppo.

Before IS first entered the city, Palmyra boasted temples, colonnaded alleys and elaborately decorated tombs that were among the best preserved classical monuments in the Middle East.

But many of the structures have been destroyed and much of the heritage looted for sale on the black market.

Moscow's support has been key in the Syrian army's Palmyra push, and its warplanes continued to bombard IS positions inside and near the city on Thursday, the Observatory reported.

A decades-old ally of Damascus, Moscow launched an air campaign in September 2015 in support of President Bashar al-Assad's forces.

After losing ground in the early years of the war, Assad's regime has regained significant territory -- including by pushing rebel forces out of second city Aleppo last year -- thanks in large part to Russian support.

On another battle front against IS, fighters of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced they would cede several villages to the government as part of a deal brokered by Russia to avoid conflict with Turkey.

Turkey launched a cross-border operation in late August that it said aimed to counter both IS and the SDF, which is dominated by Kurdish fighters that Ankara sees as "terrorists".

The surprise announcement by the SDF marks the first time that US-supported fighters offered to cede territory to Assad's forces.

It said the territory to be handed over lay between the towns of Manbij and Al-Bab, which Turkish-backed fighters captured last week from IS, to create a buffer zone between them.

Ankara meanwhile renewed its threat to bomb Kurdish fighters unless they withdrew from Manbij, a former bastion of IS that is now under SDF control.

The Turkey-backed rebels launched their advance on Manbij on Wednesday, initially seizing two villages but losing them to the SDF by Thursday.

Six rebels and one SDF fighter were killed, the Observatory said.

The profusion of forces operating in Syria has muddled the battlefield and on Wednesday a US general said Russian warplanes had bombed SDF fighters mistakenly believing they were IS.

The Russian defence ministry denied carrying out the air strikes.

Russia on Thursday accused Syria's main opposition group, the High Negotiations Committee (HNC), of "sabotaging" sputtering UN-led Syrian peace talks in Geneva and questioned their ability to reach a deal.

"The results of the first days of the intra-Syrian dialogues, as before, raise questions over the ability of the Syrian opposition representatives to reach a deal," Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

Moscow had earlier called for "terrorism" to be added to the agenda of the talks, which have so far focused on three topics: governance, the constitution, and elections.

But the HNC late Wednesday refused, having previously accused Assad's regime of wanting to turn the focus to terrorism as a distraction from political questions.

The Geneva talks, the fourth round of UN-sponsored negotiations in the war, are expected to end by the weekend, though no formal timeframe has been set

Source: Ahram online

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 retakes ancient palmyra from is group syria army retakes ancient palmyra from is group

 



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 retakes ancient palmyra from is group syria army retakes ancient palmyra from is group

 



GMT 09:54 2018 Wednesday ,24 January

'Friendly and kind' N. Korean skaters

GMT 07:16 2018 Thursday ,18 January

Macron's tapestry gesture risks rousing

GMT 23:45 2018 Tuesday ,23 January

Europe in the pink of health, feels Bjorn

GMT 16:03 2017 Friday ,05 May

Ban on Omani foods

GMT 03:07 2017 Saturday ,30 September

Facebook helps UAE resident reunite with brother

GMT 00:05 2017 Wednesday ,15 November

Deadly heat from climate change may hit slums hardest

GMT 10:18 2016 Thursday ,27 October

Sharjah Book Fair’s Professional Programme attracts

GMT 13:56 2012 Sunday ,21 October

King Mohammed VI Gulf tour

GMT 19:28 2017 Sunday ,12 March

Carlos the Jackal faces trial again in France

GMT 05:55 2018 Tuesday ,23 January

US tax reforms send UBS profits plunging

GMT 06:01 2018 Saturday ,20 January

How to take a bullet, by 'Den of Thieves' star 50 Cent

GMT 23:50 2018 Thursday ,18 January

1.5 C climate goal 'very unlikely' but doable

GMT 08:42 2018 Wednesday ,17 January

Was preparing new version of 'Zombie'

GMT 13:06 2018 Tuesday ,16 January

The London Fashion Agency relaunches as LFA

GMT 14:17 2017 Friday ,03 February

Facing Trump trade threats, Mexico eyes new partners

GMT 10:33 2017 Thursday ,28 December

Putin files nomination for 2018 re-election bid

GMT 08:01 2017 Tuesday ,21 November

China's Tencent overtakes Facebook

GMT 10:15 2017 Tuesday ,21 November

US-Saudi warplanes hit Sanaa

GMT 07:42 2010 Wednesday ,15 September

Global regulators agree on tougher Basel III bank rules
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 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

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