ISIL Group Seizes Control of Palmyra as Syrian Forces Withdraw
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Syrian pro-government forces withdrew from the ancient city of Palmyra on Wednesday after militants from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terrorist group entered its neighborhoods in large numbers, Syrian state television said.
Most of Palmyra's civilian population had been evacuated before the withdrawal, according to Syrian state television, which added that ISIL group fighters were trying to enter the city's historical sites.
The central city, also known as Tadmur, is built alongside the remains of a oasis civilisation whose colonnaded streets, temple and theatre have stood for 2,000 years.
It is home to modern military installations, and sits on a desert highway linking the capital Damascus with Syria's eastern provinces, mostly under terrorists' control.
"The news at the moment is very bad. There are small groups that managed to enter the city from certain points," Syria's antiquities chief Maamoun Abdulkarim told Reuters earlier on Wednesday.
Abdulkarim said hundreds of statues had been moved to safe locations but called on the Syrian army and international community to save the site.
"The fear is for the museum and the large monuments that cannot be moved," he said. "This is the entire world's battle."
The attack is part of a westward advance by the ISIL group that holds tracts of land in the north and east of Syria and is now edging towards the more heavily populated areas along the western flank of the country.
Earlier, UNESCO urged for an immediate halt to the fighting and called for international efforts to protect the population "and safeguard the unique cultural heritage."
The ISIL group is known to have destroyed antiquities and ancient monuments in neighbouring Iraq.
