BEIRUT—ISIS terrorists recaptured the ancient city of Palmyra from Syrian troops on Sunday, according to both sides in the battle, scoring a major advance after a year of setbacks in Syria and neighboring Iraq.
In taking back Palmyra, the terrorist group appeared to be taking advantage of the Syrian and Russian preoccupation with Aleppo, timing its attack to coincide with a major government offensive to capture the last remaining opposition-held neighborhoods in the northern city.
Palmyra, with its towering 2,000-year-old ruins, holds mostly symbolic meaning in the wider civil war, although its location in central Syria also gives it some strategic significance.
ISIS terrorists re-entered the city Saturday for the first time since they were expelled by Syrian and Russian forces amid much fanfare nine months ago. The government’s first important win against ISIS in the historic city gave Damascus the chance to try to position itself as part of the global anti-terrorism campaign.
The terrorists had spent 10 months in Palmyra, during which they blew up a number of temples and caused other destruction—severing the heads of statues and partially damaging two temples and a famous arch.
Maamoun Abdulkarim, Syria’s official for antiquities and museums, said his department had transferred the contents of Palmyra’s museum to Damascus, but that he still worries about the safety of the ruins from the IS militants.
“I fear they will be more vengeful,” Abdulkarim told The Associated Press.
Palmyra was a major tourist attraction before Syria’s civil war began in 2011.
