The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said nearly 300 people have been killed in four days of fighting since IS launched an assault on the desert oasis city on Wednesday.
The toll comprised 123 soldiers and loyalist militiamen, 115 IS fighters as well as 57 civilians, dozens of whom were executed by the jihadists, the Observatory said, quoting sources on the ground.
On Saturday the jihadists pressed their offensive and seized the northern part of the modern town of Palmyra, known as Tadmur in Arabic, but were driven out by regime forces.
"IS's attack was foiled,"said provincial governor Talal Barazi.
He told AFP the army was "still combing the streets for bombs" after recapturing the northern districts.
"The situation in the city and its outskirts is good," he said.
But the Observatory said clashes were still under way Sunday in the northern suburb of Al-Amiriyah, around the prison east of the city and around Haql al-Hail gas field northeast of Palmyra.
Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said the jihadists were still just a kilometre (less than a mile) away from the UNESCO-listed heritage site and its adjacent museum housing thousands of priceless artefacts.
"IS is still present outside the city, to the south and east," Abdel Rahman said.
Syrian antiquities chief Mamoun Abdulkarim expressed relief that IS, known for its wanton destruction of archaeological sites in territory it controls in Syria and Iraq, did not attack the site.
"We have good news today, we feel much better," Abdulkarim told AFP by telephone.
"There was no damage to the ruins, but this does not mean we should not be afraid."
The jihadists launched their offensive from their stronghold in the Euphrates Valley to the east, triggering ferocious fighting with the army, which has a major base just outside Palmyra.
The antiquities chief said he had been "living in a state of terror" that IS would destroy the first and second century temples and colonnaded streets that are among Palmyra's architectural treasures.
Abdulkarim said he remained concerned for Palmyra in light of the destruction wreaked by IS on pre-Islamic sites such as Nimrud and Hatra in neighbouring Iraq.
On Thursday, UNESCO chief Irina Bokova appealed to Syrian troops and jihadists to spare Palmyra, which the organisation describes as one of the most important cultural centres of the ancient world.
Governor Barazi, meanwhile, voiced concern for the population, saying the fighting had forced civilians in the countryside to swamp Palmyra, home to 70,000 people.
"We are taking all necessary precautions, and we are working on securing humanitarian aid quickly in fear of masses fleeing from the city," he said.
Barazi said the army had recaptured strategic locations including hilltops, checkpoints and Palmyra's television tower in the northwest which IS had overrun.
Troops also killed more than 130 jihadists, he said.
IS posted pictures online of what it said was one of two checkpoints fighters seized inside Haql al-Hail gas field, triggering more clashes with pro-regime forces.
And the Observatory director said a US raid late on Friday on one of Syria's largest oilfields killed 32 IS members, including four leading officials.
"The US operation killed 32 members of IS, among them four officials, including IS oil chief Abu Sayyaf, the deputy IS defence minister, and an IS communications official," said Abdel Rahman.
US officials have said "about a dozen" people were killed in the operation by Iraq-based US commandos trying to capture Abu Sayyaf.
Abdel Rahman said three of the four leading officials killed in the raid were from north Africa, but that the communications official was a Syrian.
AFP
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17/5/15
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ISIS fires barrage of rockets at Palmyra...
ReplyDeleteISIS fired a barrage of rockets on residential neighborhoods in Syria's ancient city of Palmyra, killing five civilians including two children, a monitoring group said Monday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported fierce clashes between the militants and government troops on the outskirts of the city's 2,000-year-old UNESCO world heritage site.
"At least five civilians, including two children, were killed Sunday night when ISIS fired rockets on numerous neighborhoods in Tadmur," the Observatory told Agence France-Presse, using the Arabic name for the city.
"It's the first time that ISIS has fired so many rockets on the city," said Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman, who gathers information from a network of civilians, medics and fighters in Syria.
According to Syrian antiquities director Mamoun Abdulkarim, two rockets fell Sunday on the garden of Palmyra's museum, which houses statues, sarcophagi, and other well-preserved artifacts, without causing any damage.
It was earlier reported that the Syrian government troops and militia put up fierce resistance to the ISIS assault on the town....alarabiya.net
18/5/15
ISIS seized two gas fields Monday northeast of Syria's ancient Palmyra, a day after firing rockets into the city and killing five people, activists said...
ReplyDeleteThe Al-Hail and Arak gas fields, 40 and 25 kilometers (25 and 15 miles) respectively from Palmyra, were vital for the government's generation of electricity for areas under its control, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Fierce clashes have rocked Palmyra's outskirts since ISIS launched an offensive on May 13 to capture the 2,000-year-old world heritage site nicknamed "the pearl of the desert".
Since then, at least 364 people, including combatants from both sides and 62 civilians, have been killed in the battle for the ancient city.
On Saturday, the jihadis seized most of the city's north, but were pushed out by government troops less than 24 hours later..AFP.....dailystar.com.lb
18/5/15
Jihadis from ISIS entered the northern city limits of ancient Palmyra Wednesday, seizing a state security building after intense fighting, activists said...
ReplyDelete"The jihadis are once again in the north of Tadmur, after taking over the state security building," Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP, using Palmyra's Arabic name.
"They also seized a checkpoint in the same area," he said.
ISIS's new advance comes after fierce clashes with Syrian government forces Wednesday on the northern and eastern edges of Palmyra.
On Saturday, ISIS seized most of Palmyra's northern neighborhoods, but was pushed out by regime forces less than 24 hours later....AFP
UNESCO chief 'deeply concerned' about Palmyra, urges cease-fire...
ReplyDeleteThe head of UNESCO said Wednesday she was "deeply concerned" about fighting in Syria's ancient city of Palmyra and called for an "immediate" end to hostilities.
Irina Bokova said in a statement that the fighting was "putting at risk one of the most significant sites in the Middle East," as ISIS fighters overran the north of the city.
"I reiterate my appeal for an immediate cessation of hostilities at the site," she added.....AFP
20/5/15
Syrie: l'EI contrôle la quasi-totalité de la cité antique de Palmyre (ONG)...
ReplyDeleteLes djihadistes du groupe extrémiste sunnite Etat islamique (EI) contrôlaient mercredi soir la quasi-totalité de la cité antique de Palmyre, après le retrait des forces gouvernementales des différents secteurs de cette ville de l'ouest de la Syrie, selon l'Observatoire syrien des droits de l'Homme.
"L'EI contrôle la quasi-totalité de Palmyre", a déclaré le directeur de l'OSDH, Rami Abdel Rahmane, faisant état du "retrait massif des forces du régime de tous les secteurs". Il a cependant précisé que les djihadistes n'étaient pas entrés dans la prison (est) et le siège des Renseignements militaires (ouest) où se trouvent un grand nombre de soldats.
La cité antique, qui compte un grand nombre de sites archéologiques, figure au patrimoine mondial de l'Unesco. Vieille de plus de 2.000 ans, elle abrite les ruines monumentales d'une grande ville qui fut l'un des plus importants foyers culturels du monde antique.
La directrice générale de l'Unesco s'est dite mercredi "vivement préoccupée" par la situation à Palmyre et a appelé à la cessation "immédiate" des hostilités.
L'EI a déjà détruit des trésors archéologiques en Irak, comme par exemple à Nimroud.
rtbf.be
20/5/15