Zimpapers Logo

Baghdad — Islamic State seized full control of both ancient and modern Palmyra in central Syria yesterday, just days after it captured a provincial capital in neighbouring Iraq, suggesting momentum is building for the ultra-hardline group.

The twin successes pile pressure not just on Damascus and Baghdad, but also throws doubt on US strategy to rely almost exclusively on air strikes to defeat the Sunni Muslim movement, which is an offshoot of al-Qaeda.

Islamic State said in a statement posted by followers on Twitter that it was in full charge of Palmyra, including its military installations, marking the first time it had taken a city directly from the Syrian military and allied forces.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Islamic State now controls more than half of Syria following more than four years of civil war against the autocratic rule of President Bashar al-Assad.

The radical group has destroyed antiquities and monuments in Iraq and there are fears it might now devastate Palmyra, an ancient World Heritage site and home to renowned Roman-era ruins including well-preserved temples, colonnades and a theatre.

“This is the fall of a civilisation,” Syria’s antiquities chief Maamoun Abdulkarim said yesterday. “Human, civilised society has lost the battle against barbarism. I have lost all hope.”

Clashes in the area since Wednesday killed at least 100 pro-government fighters, said Rami Abdulrahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which bases its information on a network of sources on the ground.

Islamic State said retreating pro-government forces had left behind many dead, but gave no precise figures.

The assault on the city is part of a westward advance by Islamic State that is adding to pressures on Assad’s overstretched army and pro-government militia, which have also recently lost ground in the northwest and south.

Palmyra’s fall came just five days after the Islamist group seized Ramadi, capital of Iraq’s largest province, Anbar. Fighters loyal to the movement have also consolidated their grip on Sirte in Libya, hometown of late dictator Muammar Gaddafi, extending their reach in the region.

Iraqi forces said yesterday that they had thwarted a third attempt by Islamic State militants to break through their defensive lines east of Ramadi overnight.

Police and pro-government Sunni fighters exchanged mortar and sniper fire with insurgents across the new frontline in Husaiba al-Sharqiya, about halfway between Ramadi and a base where a counter-offensive to retake the city is being prepared.

The loss of Ramadi handed the central Iraq government in Baghdad its most significant setback in a year and exposed the limitations of both the Iraqi army and a campaign of US-led air strikes designed to “degrade and destroy” Islamic State. — AFP