Syrian forces have reportedly taken back the ancient city of Palmyra from Islamic State control.
According to CNN.com, forces "in cooperation with the allied and backing forces" inflicted heavy losses on Islamic State militants. This was confirmed by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. SOHR founder Rami Abdulrahman acknowledged that the city had been taken after "heavy clashes between ISIS and the regime forces erupted on Wednesday."
The city of Palmyra is considered to be a strategic location to control. It is located in Homs province, in central Syria. It is about 140 miles from Raqqa, where the Islamic State’s headquarters is located.
Islamic State forces seized control of the city in December and destroyed a number of historic sites.
Syrian forces are hoping they can maintain control of the city, which has fallen to Islamic State control a couple times before and been retaken.
"This is the second time we've seen the handover [of Palmyra] and this is obviously being used for political reasons," said Nasser al-Hariri, a member of the Syrian Coalition. "If we want to follow the game of (Syrian President) Assad and Palmyra, it will be like watching Tom and Jerry."
Photo courtesy: Thinkstockphotos.com
Publication date: March 3, 2017