The Syrian Observatory For Human Rights

Syrian regime forces poised to recapture Palmyra from Islamic State

Syrian regime forces poised to recapture Palmyra from Islamic State

Troops loyal to Bashar al-Assad close in on ancient city with support from Russian airstrikes and Hizbollah fighters

 Palmyra prison in the Syrian city has been blown up by Islamic State group jihadists

Palmyra prison in the Syrian city has been blown up by Islamic State group jihadists 

Syrian regime forces last night appeared on the verge of recapturing the ancient city of Palmyra from the Islamic State (Isil) after a long offensive thatonly added to the destruction in the 4,000-year-old city.

Supported by heavy Russian airstrikes and Hizbollah fighters, troops loyal to Bashar al-Assad pushed back jihadist forces and closed in on the outskirts of desert city.

Syrian troops said they were “within hours” of capturing the entire city.

Palmyra fell to Isil in May 2015 and the world watched in horror as the jihadists executed civilians and began destroying some of the World Heritage site’s most important ruins.

Isil fighters blew up part of the 2,000-year-old Arch of Triumph, the symbolic Roman entrance to the city, and dynamited the iconic temple of the Mesopotamian god Bel.

While archaeologists have yet to assess the scale of the damage firsthand, activists said the Syrian government offensive and Russian bombing had only exacerbated the destruction.

The Palmyra Coordination Committee (PCC), an opposition group that monitors the situation in the city, said: “Russia is destroying our city and civilization.

“Russian war planes, artillery and missiles have not stopped their random bombing of the city without differentiation between humans stones.”

Even as some Russian military units began departing Syrian on the orders of Vladimir Putin, the Russian air force continued to launch around 25 strikes a day in support of Mr Assad’s forces near Palmyra.

Recapturing the city would be a symbolic victory and the most visible symbol of Mr Assad’s momentum on the battlefield.

But it would also give regime forces a major strategic foothold in central Syria and control of vast swathes of desert that extend south to the border with Iraq.

Losing Palmyra and the surrounding area could cut Isil’s area of control by up to a quarter, according to an estimate by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitor of the war.

The regime advance came as John Kerry, the US secretary of state, arrived in Moscow for meetings with Mr Putin and Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister.

US officials said the meetings would focus on “the brass tacks” of Mr Assad’s future – a major sticking point at the Syrian peace talks underway in Geneva.

The Syrian opposition, backed by the West, argues Mr Assad must step down as part of a political transition to a new unity government in Damascus.

The Syrian regime has said it will not even discuss the possibility of Mr Assad’s resignation.

Russia has strongly backed the Syrian regime but it remains unclear how devoted Mr Putin is to Mr Assad himself and whether Moscow would be prepared to sacrifice the Syrian leader in order to reach an agreement.

“The Secretary would like to now really hear where President Putin is in his thinking,” a US official said.

Both the Syrian opposition and Staffan de Mistura, the UN envoy mediating the Geneva talks, said they hoped progress in Moscow would give new momentum to discussions in Switzerland.

Mr de Mistura said there was “a strong expectation that the talks in Moscow will be productive.”

The opposition and regime negotiators have yet to meet face-to-face and Mr de Mistura has shuttled back and forth between the two sides in an effort to close the gaps.

The US and Russia will also discuss how to monitor a UN-brokered truce in Syria which came into force last month but has been violated by both rebels and the regime.

The truce does not cover Isil or other jihadist groups and both Russia and the US-led coalition have continued their bombing campaigns.

The truce has allowed humanitarian aid to reach several opposition towns which had previously been surrounded and starved by regime forces.

Source: Syrian regime forces poised to recapture Palmyra from Islamic State – Telegraph