Assad troops completely took possession of Palmyra

The troops of the Syrian dictator Bashar al -Assad and the irregular formations supporting them completely captured the late -ant city of Palmyra (modern Tadmur village, Muhafaz Homs in the central part of the country), which has been controlled by the Islamic State since May 2015. It is reported by Reuters with links both to the government television of Damascus and the Syrian Supervisory Board of Human Rights.

According to human rights activists, shootings still continued in the eastern part of the city on Sunday morning, but the bulk of the IS forces have already moved from the city further east.

The loss of palmiers is called a serious defeat of the "Islamic state." According to the director of the Syrian Supervisory Board Rami Abdurrahman, 400 IG militants died in the battle for this city. This is the largest loss of Islamists in battle from the very moment of the proclamation of the caliphate in 2014.

For Assad, restoration of control over Palmyra opened the road to capture most of the Syrian desert. The dictator’s troops got the opportunity to advance both south, to the border with Iraq, and to the east-to the center of the IG, in Deir Ez-Zor and Racca.

The operation of the capture of Palmyra lasted three weeks. Assad’s land offensive was supported by intense Russian bombing.

On March 24, dictator troops entered the city . On the same day, it became known that under Palmyra , the Russian special forces , who bored aircraft of Moscow’s aviation on objects of IG.

Palmyra was one of the richest cities in late antiquity. The preserved structures of that time belonged to the best samples of ancient Roman architecture. They were included in UNESCO in the World Heritage List.

Meanwhile, the fighters of IG, capturing the city, systematically destroyed its historical and architectural monuments , declaring them with symbols of paganism. The Islamists blew up the triumphal arch, the ancient temple of Bela, the temple of Baal Shamin, the 2nd century n. e., destroyed the famous ancient statue of Leo al-Lat, dating from the first century BC. e. Two ancient Muslim tombs, three ancient columns and other objects were also blown up.

Russia, openly intervening in the Syrian war, began to strike at objects in Palmyra . In early November, it was reported that at least eight bombs fell into the area of ​​the old fortress. Syrian activists did not exclude that the monument received damage.

Last week, the head of the main operational department of the General Staff, Lieutenant General Sergei Rudskoy, said that Russian planes were delivered daily to 20-25 strokes on Palmyra .