Russian air strikes have killed 18 Islamic State group fighters in central Syria, including near the historic city of Palmyra, over the past 24 hours, a monitor said on Friday.
Russia on Tuesday bombed targets linked to the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria near the historic city of Palmyra, killing "a great number" of personnel, the defence ministry said.
A meticulous recreation of the 1,800-year-old Arch of Triumph in Palmyra, Syria, destroyed by Islamic State militants last year, has been erected in Trafalgar Square.
Hundreds of displaced Syrian residents of Palmyra returned home Saturday to inspect their houses for the first time since the Russian-backed army captured it from the Islamic State group two weeks ago.
Syrian troops on Sunday seized the key Islamic State group bastion of Al-Qaryatain, dealing the jihadists a new blow in the country's centre a week after expelling them from Palmyra, state television said.
The Syrian army has found a mass grave containing the bodies of 42 civilians and soldiers executed by the Islamic State jihadist group in Palmyra, a military source said Saturday.
A view of the remains of Baalshmin temple, which was destroyed by the Islamic State (IS) group in 2015, in the Syrian ancient city of Palmyra. AFP
Syrian forces strengthened their hold on Palmyra and pushed forward against the Islamic State group after dealing it a major blow by retaking the ancient city.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday hailed his troops' victory over the Islamic State group in the ancient oasis city of Palmyra as an ‘important achievement.’
Syrian government forces drove Islamic State fighters out of Palmyra on Sunday, the army said, inflicting a major defeat on the militants who seized the desert city last year and dynamited its ancient temples.
Syrian troops backed by Russian ground and air forces on Saturday pushed deeper into the Islamic State group stronghold of Palmyra, as Washington considered boosting its anti-jihadist fight in neighbouring Iraq.
The Islamic State group suffered a double setback in Syria as army troops recaptured the ancient citadel in Palmyra and the Pentagon said the jihadists' second-in-command was killed in a US raid.
