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Isis captures a third of ancient Syrian city of Palmyra, activists say Fears for Palmyra's ancient treasures as Isis retakes northern part of Syrian city
(35 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. Islamic State fighters have seized control of the northern sector of the Syrian city of Palmyra, a monitor and activists have said, triggering renewed fears about the ancient site’s historic treasures.
“Isis fighters seized the northern parts of the city, which amount to a third of Palmyra,” said Rami Abdurrahman, head of the Observatory. “Regime forces fled from these neighbourhoods.” “The situation is very bad. If only five members of Isis go into the ancient buildings, they’ll destroy everything,” Syria’s antiquities chief, Maamoun Abdulkarim, said, calling for international action to save the city.
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. Palmyra’s Unesco world heritage site, including ancient temples and colonnaded streets, is located in the city’s south-west. Hundreds of statues and ancient artefacts from its museum have already been transferred out of the city, Abdulkarim said, but many others - including massive tombs – could not be moved.
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 in the past five days. Its fighters seized the same neighbourhoods on Saturday but held them for less than 24 hours.
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. Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said Isis had seized roughly “a third of Palmyra” on Wednesday. After heavy fighting on the northern edges of the city, Isis fighters entered the northern quarter “without their vehicles”. They seized a state security building and fanned out across northern districts as Assad regime forces fled, the monitoring group’s head said.
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. “People are very afraid of what will happen, because Isis has the capability to get to the heart of Palmyra,” said Khaled al-Homsi, an activist in the city. He said terrified residents were staying at home and that government forces were on the defensive.
They managed to seize a state security building and spread out through northern districts, the Observatory reported. Asked if Isis would be able to reach the city’s ancient ruins, a Syrian military source said anything was possible in urban warfare. He acknowledged the jihadis had infiltrated northern neighbourhoods and said they were engaged in “street fighting” with regime forces.
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. Mohammad Hassan Homsi, another activist originally from Palmyra, said Syrian soldiers fled after Isis took the state security building. “They headed to the military intelligence headquarters near the ruins,” he said.
“They headed to the military intelligence headquarters near the ruins,” he added. The Guardian was not immediately able to confirm the reports. Homsi said jihadi fighters from the flashpoint border town of Kobani, where US-led air strikes helped Kurdish fighters defeat Isis in January, were among those fighting in Palmyra.
Isis began its offensive on Palmyra on 13 May, seizing a nearby town and two gas fields, and leaving more than 350 people dead.
The city is strategically located at the crossroads of key highways leading west to Damascus and Homs, and east to Iraq.