Islamic State push towards Damascus as Syrian jets bomb Palmyra
SYRIAN government aircraft have carried out intense strikes against the Islamic State group in and around the ancient city of Palmyra after its fall to the jihadists, a military source said.
“The air force struck more than 160 Daesh targets, killing and wounding terrorists and destroying weapons and vehicles equipped with machine guns” on Palmyra’s outskirts and elsewhere in the east of Homs province, the source said.
“We are pursuing Daesh wherever they are,” the source said, using the Arabic acronym for IS.
Prisoners of war … Syrian government soldiers who were captured by Islamic state militants in Palmyra. Picture: Militant website via AP Source: AP
“Military operations, including air raids, are ongoing in the area around Al-Suknah, Palmyra, the Arak and Al-Hail gas fields and all the roads leading to Palmyra,” he said.
State television said “more than 50 Daesh terrorists” had been killed in the air strikes.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least four civilians had been killed in the raids, which were the most intense since the jihadists overran the city on Thursday.
Dozens of people had also been wounded in the raids, and IS was believed to have taken losses when a military security building was hit, said Observatory director Rami Abdul Rahman.
The strikes targeted several areas of the city, including some close to the city’s famed Graeco-Roman ruins, a UNESCO world heritage site, he said.
Palmyra has fallen … this picture released by militants shows the Islamic State flag flying atop the ancient city of Palmyra. Picture: Islamic State militant website via AP Source: AP
But so far they had failed to halt the jihadists, who advanced towards the capital Damascus and overran major phosphate mines about 70 kilometres south of Palmyra.
“IS has made further progress on the Tadmor-Damascus highway and grabbed the Khnaifess phosphate mines and nearby houses,” said the Observatory, which relies on a network of sources on the group for its reports.
“It has extended its control over larger areas and even greater economic interests,” added the monitor.
The latest mines seized by IS are the second largest in the country.
Syria is considered to have one of the world’s largest phosphate reserves.
IS is accused of executing hundreds of people in and around Palmyra since it swept into the oasis city last week after a lightning advance across the desert from its stronghold in the Euphrates Valley to the east.
Iraqi war effort slammed by Pentagon chief
The IS advance comes after Iraqi officials rejected accusations by the US defence chief that its security forces dodged battle in Ramadi and lacked the will to fight Islamic State.
Pentagon chief Ashton Carter argued that the May 17 fall of Ramadi, the worst defeat Baghdad has suffered in almost a year, could have been avoided.
“We have an issue with the will of the Iraqis to fight ISIL and defend themselves,” he told CNN on Sunday.
Slamming the Iraqi war effort … US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter. Picture: AFP Photo / Saul Loeb Source: AFP
Washington has been one of Baghdad’s key partners in the war to reclaim the ground lost to IS last year and Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi expressed disbelief at Carter’s stinging comments.
“I’m surprised why he said that. I mean, he was very supportive of Iraq. I am sure he was fed with the wrong information,” Abadi told the BBC.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. Picture: AFP Photo / Kirill Kudryavtsev Source: AFP
A senior Iranian general involved in the fight against IS hit out, saying Washington had failed to help Iraqi forces in Ramadi despite its military presence at the Al-Asad air base in the same province.
“How can you be in that country under the pretext of protecting the Iraqis and do nothing? This is no more than being an accomplice in a plot,” said Qassem Suleimani, the Revolutionary Guards’ commander of foreign operations.
US Vice President Joe Biden later sought to end the rift.
Patching up the relationship … US Vice President Joe Biden. Picture: Mark Wilson/Getty Images/AFP Source: AFP
In a call to Abadi, the White House quoted Biden as saying he “recognised the enormous sacrifice and bravery of Iraqi forces over the past 18 months in Ramadi and elsewhere.”
“Secretary Carter’s remarks are surprising and likely to negatively affect the morale of the ISF,” Iraq analyst Ahmed Ali said, referring to Iraqi security forces.
Ali argued there were examples of Iraqi forces showing plenty of grit and cited the Baiji refinery, where elite troops have repelled relentless IS attacks for months.
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