Syrian Army to Enter Daesh-Held Palmyra "Very Soon": Source
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Syrian army forces will enter the Daesh-held city of Palmyra "very soon", a Syrian military source said Wednesday, as government forces seek to win back the city from the terrorist group for the second time in a year.
The army said Wednesday it had captured an area known as the "Palmyra triangle" a few kilometers (miles) west of the city.
Backed by Russian airstrikes, the Syrian army has advanced to the outskirts of Palmyra in the last few days. "The army's entry to the city will begin very soon," the military source told Reuters.
The Syrian government lost control of Palmyra to Daesh in December, having first recaptured it with Russian air support last March. The group has razed ancient monuments during both of its spells in control of the UNESCO World Heritage Site - destruction the United Nations has condemned as a war crime.
The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based organization that reports on the war, said government forces were expected to storm Palmyra at "any moment". Russia has said its aircraft are supporting the army offensive in Palmyra.
Photos published on a Daesh Telegram account Wednesday showed the group's fighters firing at the Syrian army with rockets and a tank. Reuters could not verify the authenticity of the photos.
Daesh first captured Palmyra from the government in 2015. During its first period in control of the site, the extremists destroyed monuments including a 1,800-year-old monumental arch.
Most recently, Daesh has razed the landmark Tetrapylon and the facade of Palmyra's Roman Theatre. Palmyra, known in Arabic as Tadmur, stood at the crossroads of the ancient world.
