Agencies, Palmyra :
Fighters belonging to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) have advanced on Syria’s ancient city of Palmyra, one of the Middle East’s most famous UNESCO heritage sites, with fierce clashes taking place close to the city’s historic citadel.
Photos circulating on social media sites on Saturday purported to show intense clashes near the 13th century citadel of Fakhr-al-Din al-Ma’ani as ISIL fighters engaged the Syrian military.
Talal Barazi, the governor of central Homs province, where the city is located, said on Friday that the “army has sent reinforcements and it is bombing the [ISIL] positions from the air”.
Palmyra, a 2,000-year-old desert oasis, is believed to be home to some 100,000 people, including displaced Syrians who fled there after their home towns were engulfed in violence.
The city is also home to the notorious Tadmor prison, where extensive human rights abuses, torture and summary executions have taken place.
Irina Bokova, the head of the UN’s cultural body UNESCO, called on Syrian troops and ISIL to spare the city, saying it “represents an irreplaceable treasure for the Syrian people and the world”.
Fighters belonging to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) have advanced on Syria’s ancient city of Palmyra, one of the Middle East’s most famous UNESCO heritage sites, with fierce clashes taking place close to the city’s historic citadel.
Photos circulating on social media sites on Saturday purported to show intense clashes near the 13th century citadel of Fakhr-al-Din al-Ma’ani as ISIL fighters engaged the Syrian military.
Talal Barazi, the governor of central Homs province, where the city is located, said on Friday that the “army has sent reinforcements and it is bombing the [ISIL] positions from the air”.
Palmyra, a 2,000-year-old desert oasis, is believed to be home to some 100,000 people, including displaced Syrians who fled there after their home towns were engulfed in violence.
The city is also home to the notorious Tadmor prison, where extensive human rights abuses, torture and summary executions have taken place.
Irina Bokova, the head of the UN’s cultural body UNESCO, called on Syrian troops and ISIL to spare the city, saying it “represents an irreplaceable treasure for the Syrian people and the world”.
