Palmyra Archives

Turkish Terrorist “ISIS” driven out of Syria’s ancient Palmyra city

March 27, 2016 by administrator

Reuters

BEIRUT: Syrian government forces drove ISIS fighters out of Palmyra Sunday, the army said, inflicting a major defeat on the militants who seized the desert city last year and dynamited its ancient temples.

The army general command said in a statement that it had restored security and stability to the city in an operation it said showed that ISIS was beginning to retreat and collapse.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said there were still clashes on the eastern edge of Palmyra, around the prison and inside the airport, but the bulk of the ISIS force had withdrawn and retreated east, leaving Palmyra under President Bashar Assad’s control.

Syrian state-run television broadcast from inside Palmyra Sunday morning, showing largely deserted streets and several badly damaged buildings.

It quoted a military source saying Syrian and Russian jets were targeting ISIS fighters as they fled, hitting dozens of vehicles on the roads leading east from the city.

For government forces, the recapture of Palmyra opens up much of Syria’s eastern desert stretching to the Iraqi border to the south and the ISIS heartland of Deir al-Zor and Raqqa to the east.

It follows a three-week campaign by the army and its allies on the ground, backed by intensive Russian airstrikes, aimed at driving ISIS back.

Russia’s intervention in September turned the tide of Syria’s five-year-old conflict in Assad’s favour. Despite Moscow’s announcement that it was pulling out most military forces two weeks ago, Russian jets and helicopters carried out dozens of strikes daily over Palmyra at the height of the clashes.

BIGGEST DEFEAT

Observatory director Rami Abdulrahman said 400 ISIS fighters died in the battle for Palmyra, which he described as the biggest single defeat for the group since it declared a caliphate in areas of Syria and Iraq under its control in 2014.

The loss of Palmyra comes three months after ISIS fighters were driven out of the city of Ramadi in neighboring Iraq, the first major victory for Iraq’s army since it collapsed in the face of an assault by the militants in June 2014.

ISIS has lost ground elsewhere, including the Iraqi city of Tikrit last year and the Syrian town of al-Shadadi in February. The United States said the fall of Shadadi was part of efforts to cut ISIS’ links between its two main power centers: the cities of Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria.

The Observatory said around 180 government soldiers and allied fighters were also killed in the campaign to retake Palmyra, which is home to some of the most extensive ruins of the Roman empire.

ISIS militants dynamited several monuments last year, and Syrian television broadcast footage from inside Palmyra museum Sunday showing toppled and damaged statues, as well as several smashed display cases.

Syria’s antiquities chief said this week that other ancient landmarks were still standing and pledged to restore the damaged monuments.

“Palmyra has been liberated. This is the end of the destruction in Palmyra,” Mamoun Abdelkarim told Reuters Sunday. “How many times did we cry for Palmyra? How many times did we feel despair? But we did not lose hope.”

Syria forces, allied fighters advance in Palmyra, capture citadel from Daesh

March 25, 2016 by administrator

Syrian forces made a major advance against terrorists in Palmyra Friday, capturing a citadel from Daesh Takfiri terrorists after closing in on the ruins of the ancient city in Homs Province.

“Our armed forces, in coordination with the popular defense forces, have taken control of the ancient Palmyra citadel after inflicting many losses in the ranks of the terrorist group Daesh,” state television said citing a military source.

Earlier, Maamoun Abdelkarim, the chief of Syria’s antiquities, said, “In the southwest, the army has liberated the district of hotels and restaurants as well as the Valley of the Tombs.”

“And in the west, the army has taken the Syriatel hilltop that overlooks the Mamluk fort built in the 13th century, which is still under IS control,” the official added, referring to the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group by its alternative name.

Daesh overran the “Pearl of the Desert,” the title the city is known with, in May 2015. The terrorists have blown up UNESCO-listed temples and looted relics that dated back thousands of years ever since.

Syria’s state TV aired live footage of airstrikes targeting the positions of terrorists near the fort.

Abdelkarim also stated that the Syrian army has advanced “600 meters from the Temple of Bel, but it is advancing slowly because of mines and above all to protect the city, which is an ancient treasure.”

In September 2015, Daesh claimed to have destroyed the Temple of Bel. UNESCO says the site is one of the best preserved and most important first century religious edifices in the Middle East.

Syrian forces allied with volunteer fighters entered the ancient city, located in Homs Province, on Thursday. The initial offensive for the city was launched earlier in the month with the aerial backing of Syrian and Russian fighter jets.

Russia has been conducting combat sorties against the positions of terrorists in Syria, particularly Palmyra recently, since September 31, 2015. The airstrikes came upon a request from the government in Damascus.

Heavy clashes between Syrian forces and terrorists were also reported in Deir al-Zawr, the seventh largest city in eastern Syria.

Meanwhile, a senior US official, whose name was not mentioned in the report, said the second-in-command of Daesh in Syria was killed in a US airstrike on Thursday.

Russian Special Forces Killed in Syria Palmyra Operation

March 24, 2016 by administrator

(sputniknews) report A Russian Special forces officer has died a hero in Syria during a target-designation mission near the city of Palmyra, a spokesman for the Russian military contingent at Hmeimim air base told reporters on Thursday.

The officer’s name, rank and the date of the accident remain undisclosed.

According to the spokesman, “the officer carried out a mission in Tadmor near Palmyra for a week, spotting crucial ISIL facilities and providing precise coordinates for Russian airstrikes,” as reported by RIA Novosti.

The spokesman stated that the soldier had been located and was surrounded by terrorists — and chose to draw their fire on himself.

“He died as a hero,” the spokesman said.

The presence of Russian special forces, conducting target designation missions, was earlier confirmed by Colonel General Aleksandr Dvornikov, a deputy commander of the Central Military District in Russia and chief of Russia’s campaign in Syria.

“I won’t deny that our Special Operations Forces (SOF) are deployed in Syria. They conduct ground reconnaissance of pre-selected targets for Russian warplanes, assist in targeting warplanes in remote areas and perform other tasks,” the general said. “Take into account,” he added, “that corresponding forces from the US and other members of the [US-led] coalition are performing similar missions in Syria.”

Moscow has acknowledged the deaths of 5 Russian military servicemen in Syria. The first was Vadim Kostenko, 19, who allegedly committed suicide because of a romantic attachment. On November 24, bomber pilot Oleg Peshkov died after being attacked by a US-made Turkish Air Force fighter jet. Alexander Pozynich, a marine who took part in Peshkov’s rescue mission, was killed by terrorists. On February 3, an unnamed military counselor was reported killed in a mortar attack. Also killed in a bombardment was Sergey Chupov, a soldier with the Internal Troops of Russia.

According to reports, the Russian Air Force stationed at Hmeimim conducted 41 sorties around Palmyra, hitting 146 terrorist military objects, between March 20-23. Over 320 militants, 6 command centers, and a number of vehicles were reported eliminated. Syrian troops on Thursday entered the ancient city of Palmyra, which had been controlled by Daesh since May 2015. Clashes were ongoing in the city at last report.

Syrian troops near historic city of Palmyra: monitor

March 23, 2016 by administrator

208755 Syrian government forces and their allies pushed forward against Islamic State fighters to reach the outskirts of the historic city of Palmyra on Wednesday, March 23, Britain-based monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, according to Reuters.

Clashes raged around the town after government forces took control of most of a nearby hill with air cover from Syrian and Russian warplanes, it said.

The Syrian army is trying to recapture Palmyra, which Islamic State seized in May, to open a road to the mostly IS-held eastern province of Deir ez-Zor.

Cairo: ‘Battle of humanity’: Muslim scholars Al-Azhar, make desperate call to save Syria’s Palmyra

May 25, 2015 by administrator

The historical city of Palmyra (Reuters / Nour Fourat)

Before Islamic State hammers have a chance to fall on the ruins of Palmyra, a leading Sunni Muslim body is appealing one last time for people to unite “in a battle of humanity” and save what UNESCO calls a historic city of “outstanding universal value.”

The call comes just as Syrian fighter jets were bombarding terrorist positions from the sky early on Monday.

The terrorist group has already killed 400 people in the ancient Syrian city, northeast of Damascus, while thousands more have been displaced by the fighting.

Now, Al-Azhar, a Cairo-based center for Islamic learning, has sounded the alarm as time runs out to prevent Palmyra from becoming another Nimrod, the Iraqi (Assyrian) city where Islamic State (formerly known as ISIS/ISIL) wiped thousands of years of history from existence with axes and sledgehammers.

“Protecting archeological sites from destruction and plundering is the battle of all of humanity,” the center said in a statement a day after another appeal by Syria’s antiquities director and ISIS entered the museum in the 2,000-year-old Palmyra and raised their black flag over the citadel.

Maamoun Abdulkarim, the antiquities director, on Saturday called for the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution No. 2199, which was unanimously approved on February 12 and called for nations to combat terrorism by any means possible.

“We have to unite our efforts in order to protect one of the most important archaeological cities in the Middle East from being destroyed by Daesh [the Arabic acronym for Islamic State],” Al-Azhar’s statement said.

Following UNESCO’s call for a swift resolution and an end to the fighting, Al-Azhar urged the international community to do whatever it can to prevent one of the world’s most important archaeological sites from being destroyed.

Since the city’s seizure Thursday, the race has been on to save this World Heritage site – a collection of Greco-Roman ruins with intricate designs, colonnades and an ancient cemetery full of elaborately-decorated tombs.

For Al-Azhar, this isn’t just about Islamic State being prehistoric in its cruelty: the organization says it clear that nowhere in Sharia law does it say that destruction of universally-valued antiquities and heritage sites is a holy duty.

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Syria: ISIS kills 400, mostly women & children, in Palmyra – Syrian state TV

May 24, 2015 by administrator

Islamic State militants have killed at least 400 people in Syria’s ancient city of Palmyra, mostly women and children, Syrian state television said Sunday, citing residents.

According to Reuters, opposition activists on social media claimed that hundreds of bodies were in the streets of the city.

“The terrorists have killed more than 400 people.. and mutilated their bodies, under the pretext that they cooperated with the government and did not follow orders,” a Palmyra resident told Syria’s state news agency.

State employees were among hundreds killed in the massacre. Among them was the head of of nursing department at the hospital and all her family.

Videos posted by Islamic State supporters showed the militants entering governmental buildings in search of Syrian soldiers. They were also seen pulling down pictures of Syrian President Bashar Assad and his father, Hafez Assad, Reuters reported.

At least 300 troops were killed in battles before the city was captured, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

“A bigger number of troops have disappeared and it is not clear where they are,” Rami Abdulrahman, from the monitoring group, told Reuters.

Islamic State militants entered Syria’s historic city of Palmyra, a UNESCO landmark, earlier this week after gaining full control over the city. The UN human rights office said Thursday that one-third of Palmyra’s population of 200,000 have fled the city, although there have also been reports of government forces preventing civilians from leaving until they had abandoned the town themselves.

UNESCO describes Palmyra as a city of “outstanding universal value,” an “oasis in the Syrian desert” northeast of Damascus.

Syria troops drive ISIL out of ancient city of Palmyra

May 17, 2015 by administrator

Syrian government troops have pushed the ISIL terrorists back from the remains of Syria’s ancient city of Palmyra in the western province of Homs.

Homs provincial governor, Talal Barazi, said on Sunday that the Syrian army units have recaptured the northern districts of Palmyra, known as Tadmor in Arabic, one day after they fell to Takfiri terrorists.

The Takfiri group’s “attack was foiled, and we ousted them from the northern parts of Tadmur,” Barazi said, adding, “The army is still… combing the streets for bombs.”

The Syrian governor added that the government forces managed to kill “more than 130” Takfiri terrorists in the process of flushing them out of the area.

He said the ISIL terrorist group’s attack on Tadmor has forced a large group of people to flee the area.

“We are taking all necessary precautions, and we are working on securing humanitarian aid quickly in fear of mass fleeing from the city,” he added.

Syria’s antiquities chief, Mamoun Abdulkarim, also said on Sunday that the ancient site has not suffered any damage from the Takfiri’s attacks.

“We have good news today, we feel much better,” Mamoun Abdulkarim said, adding, “There was no damage to the ruins, but this does not mean we should not be afraid.”

On Thursday, the UN cultural agency expressed grave concern over the threats posed by the Takfiri ISIL group to Palmyra.

“The site has already suffered four years of conflict, it suffered from looting and represents an irreplaceable treasure for the Syrian people and for the world,” Irina Bokova, the director general of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), said.

The Takfiri terrorists have razed to the ground a number of mosques in Syria and Iraq, many of them dating back to the early years of the Islamic civilization. The terrorists have also destroyed tombs belonging to revered Shia and Sunni figures.

In April, the ISIL terrorist group released a video showing its members destroying artifacts at Iraq’s northern ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud before blowing up the site.

Also in February, the terrorists smashed ancient statues at the Ninawa museum in Mosul, using sledgehammers and drills.

Source: Presstv