Heavy Russian airstrikes back Syrian army fighting Islamic State in Palmyra
Syrian government forces backed by heavy Russian airstrikes have seized three neighborhoods inside Palmyra, a town with famed 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 in the past day, hitting 158 targets and killing over 100 militants, Russia’s defense ministry said.
Syrian troops and allied militiamen have taken up positions in the three neighborhoods that are part of the modern town, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group.
Palmyra, affectionately known as the “bride of the desert,” once attracted tens of thousands of tourists a year. 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 say the ancient ruins promote idolatry.
The militants also demolished the town’s infamous Tadmur prison, where thousands of Syrian government opponents were reported to have been tortured.
Retaking the city would be a major victory for President Bashar Assad’s government, which has made steady gains in recent months against Islamic State and other insurgents.
Syria’s government has been assisted in large part by Russia’s air campaign. Earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the surprise pullout of some Russian warplanes from Syria, but said that strikes against Islamic State and the Al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front would continue. Those groups have been excluded from a cease-fire brokered by Russia and the U.S. that began on Feb. 27 and has largely held.
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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 alone, including a major general, the Observatory and Islamic State-affiliated media sites reported. The Observatory’s figures indicate at least 56 soldiers have died in fighting this week.
Footage broadcast on Lebanese television stations aligned with the Syrian government showed smoke rising over Palmyra’s skyline as tanks and helicopters fired at positions inside the town. Islamic State began evacuating civilians this week to other parts of its territories in Syria. No civilians remain in the town, a Palmyra resident who left earlier this week told the Associated Press, 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 forces 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 marketplace, 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.
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If Syrian government forces retake Palmyra, they will be positioned to advance on the two largest Syrian cities held by Islamic State, Deir Ezzor and Raqqa.
Islamic State is on the defensive in Iraq and Syria against an international force backed by U.S.-led airstrikes. The international coalition estimates the extremist group has lost 40% of the territory it once held in Iraq and about 20% of its territory in Syria.
On Saturday, Turkish Air Force jets joined coalition forces in attacking Islamic State in northern Iraq, hours after a Turkish soldier was killed at a military base in the region from rockets fired by the extremist militants.
Although Turkish jets have struck Islamic State positions in Syria in the past, the attack marks Turkey’s first aerial assault on the group in northern Iraq.
Islamic State claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing on Friday that killed 41 people and wounded 105 at a soccer stadium in the Iraqi city of Iskanderiyah, 30 miles from Baghdad.
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