Syria army retakes ancient Palmyra from IS

BEIRUT, Lebanon – Syrian troops backed by Russian jets complete the recapture of the historic city of Palmyra from the Islamic State group Thursday, the Kremlin says, in another blow to the jihadists.

Bolstered by air strikes and ground troops from their ally Moscow, Syrian government forces have 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 became a symbol of IS’s wanton destruction of priceless cultural heritage in areas under its control.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu informs President Vladimir Putin of Palmyra’s recapture, a Kremlin spokesman tells news agencies in Moscow.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitoring group, says that the jihadists had totally withdrawn from the desert city but not before mining several areas.

“The Syrian army is still clearing neighborhoods of mines and has not spread out into the whole city yet,” says its director, Rami Abdel Rahman.

— AFP