Islamic State retakes historic city of Palmyra

Islamic State fighters appear to have reconquered the historic city of Palmyra after days of intense fighting on its outskirts prompted a withdrawal by the Syrian military.

An ISIS-affiliated news channel claimed victory in the battle on Sunday, saying its soldiers had reclaimed control of the entirety of Palmyra, once a Silk Road oasis that boasted some of the best-preserved ruins of antiquity.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitoring group, confirmed the takeover.

Russia earlier said it had helped repel the Isis assault, driving the terrorists back to orchards outside the city and killing 300 militants in the process. But the Russian Defence Ministry later said the militants had regrouped and launched a second, more successful attempt.

They confirmed statements issued by ISIS propaganda outlets claiming control of the city's 2,000 year-old Roman ruins, a UNESECO World Heritage site.

The new battle for Palmyra comes almost nine months after Isis was driven out of the city at the end of March.

In May last year, jihadi militants stormed the city after a week-long siege that ended with the mass retreat of the Syrian military. Militants rampaged through the city’s museums and ruins, blowing up the 2,000-year-old towering Temple of Bel and the Arch of Victory, along with other priceless artefacts, and killed Khaled al-Asaad, Palmyra’s long-serving leading archaeologist.

The group also carried out mass executions in the historic amphitheatre.

The Syrian army, backed by Russian fighter jets, reclaimed the city in March this year in a well-publicised campaign.

The loss of the city will come as a shock, particularly with ISIS in retreat throughout Syria and Iraq with the killing of its top lieutenants and facing increasing pressure in its two largest cities, Mosul and Raqqa.

Abdulkarim said the vast majority of the artefacts that were in Palmyra had already been moved to Damascus for safekeeping, a prescient move that may help preserve something of the city’s heritage, one of the few aspects that unite many Syrians after nearly six years of civil war.

But the remaining buildings in the old city, a UNESECO world heritage site, including the amphitheatre and the ancient citadel, remain at risk. There were few people left in the city; under 1,000 by government estimates.