Syria war: Palmyra recaptured from Islamic State

Syrian forces take up positions outside Palmyra Credit: AP

The ancient city of Palmyra has been recaptured from Islamic State, the Syrian military has announced.

It comes after a series of military operations, including some with the help of Russian air cover and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters, referred to as "allied and friendly troops".

IS defenses of the town had begun to erode on Sunday, with the government troops reaching Palmyra's outskirts on Tuesday, an army statement released on Thursday evening added.

This is the government's second campaign to retake the desert town. It seized Palmyra from Islamic State militants last March only to lose it again in December.

Before the civil war gripped Syria in 2011, Palmyra was a top tourist attraction, drawing tens of thousands of visitors each year.

But the terror group have destroyed several famed ancient Roman monuments as well as antiquities.

Two such monuments include Palmyra’s theatre, which dates from the 2nd century AD, and the tetrapylon, a monument marking a major road intersection along the site's colonnaded street.

Part of the ancient ampitheatre was destroyed by IS Credit: Travers Eric ABACA/PA Images

The United Nations described the destruction as a "new war crime and an immense loss for the Syrian people and for humanity".

Speaking in January, UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova said: "This new blow against cultural heritage, just a few hours after UNESCO received reports about mass executions in the theatre, shows that cultural cleansing led by violent extremists is seeking to destroy both human lives and historical monuments in order to deprive the Syrian people of its past and its future."

Palmyra was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1980 and has been on the list of World Heritage in Danger since 2013.