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| Isis captures a third of ancient Syrian city of Palmyra, reports suggest | Isis captures a third of ancient Syrian city of Palmyra, reports suggest |
| (34 minutes later) | |
| Islamic State fighters have seized about a third of the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra after heavy fighting against the military and allied combatants, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group has said. | |
| “Isis fighters seized the northern parts of the city, which amount to a third of Palmyra,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Observatory. “Regime forces fled from these neighbourhoods.” | |
| Isis fighters advanced towards the city, known as Tadmur in Arabic, over the weekend but were repelled. The city is home to a Unesco world heritage site and Syria’s antiquities chief has said the insurgents would destroy ancient ruins if they took control of it. | Isis fighters advanced towards the city, known as Tadmur in Arabic, over the weekend but were repelled. The city is home to a Unesco world heritage site and Syria’s antiquities chief has said the insurgents would destroy ancient ruins if they took control of it. |
| State television said “armed forces targeted Isis terrorist groups north of Palmyra, and blocked their infiltration of the northern parts of the city”. | |
| It was the second time Isis has overrun northern Palmyra, after it seized the same neighbourhoods on Saturday but held them for less than 24 hours. | |
| The jihadis were locked in fierce clashes with regime forces on the city’s northern edges, as well as in the east near the notorious Palmyra prison. | |
| They managed to seize a government state security building and spread out through northern districts, the Observatory reported. | |
| Mohammad, an activist originally from Palmyra, told AFP that “regime soldiers fled after Isis took the state security building” in the north of the city. | |
| “They headed to the military intelligence headquarters near the ruins,” he added. | |
| The Guardian was not immediately able to confirm the reports. | The Guardian was not immediately able to confirm the reports. |