BEIRUT
|
Syrian
government forces backed by Russian air strikes battled Islamic State
insurgents around Palmyra on Monday, trying to extend their gains after
taking back control of a city whose ancient temples were dynamited by
the ultra-radical militants.The
loss of Palmyra on Sunday amounts to one of the biggest setbacks for
the jihadist group since it declared a caliphate in 2014 across large
parts of Syria and Iraq.
The Syrian army said the city, home to some of the most extensive ruins of the Roman Empire, would become a "launchpad" for operations against Islamic State strongholds in Raqqa and Deir al-Zor, further east across a vast expanse of desert.
Syrian state media said on Monday that Palmyra's military airport was now open to air traffic after the army cleared the surrounding area of Islamic State fighters.
There were clashes northeast of Palmyra between Islamic State and forces allied to the government, supported by Syrian and Russian air strikes, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the war.
Air strikes, believed to be Russian, also targeted the road running east out of Palmyra toward Deir al-Zor, it said.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, speaking in Amman, said he was "encouraged" that Syrian government forces had been able to drive Islamic State out of Palmyra and that the city's ancient heritage could now be preserved.
But the Syrian opposition said it feared President Bashar al-Assad's forces were using a fragile cessation of hostilities in the wider conflict to make territorial gains.
"I fear one thing: that the period of the truce will allow the Assad regime to gobble up what remains of Syria by liberating areas that are controlled by Daesh (Islamic State) and Nusra," Riad Nassan Agha, a member of the opposition High Negotiations Committee, told Reuters by telephone.
The truce, accepted by Assad's government and most of his foes, is the first of its kind since the war began five years ago and has been accompanied by the first peace talks attended by the warring sides. It does not apply to areas held by Islamic State fighters or the Syrian branch of al Qaeda, known as the Nusra Front.
The Syrian army said the city, home to some of the most extensive ruins of the Roman Empire, would become a "launchpad" for operations against Islamic State strongholds in Raqqa and Deir al-Zor, further east across a vast expanse of desert.
Syrian state media said on Monday that Palmyra's military airport was now open to air traffic after the army cleared the surrounding area of Islamic State fighters.
There were clashes northeast of Palmyra between Islamic State and forces allied to the government, supported by Syrian and Russian air strikes, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the war.
Air strikes, believed to be Russian, also targeted the road running east out of Palmyra toward Deir al-Zor, it said.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, speaking in Amman, said he was "encouraged" that Syrian government forces had been able to drive Islamic State out of Palmyra and that the city's ancient heritage could now be preserved.
But the Syrian opposition said it feared President Bashar al-Assad's forces were using a fragile cessation of hostilities in the wider conflict to make territorial gains.
"I fear one thing: that the period of the truce will allow the Assad regime to gobble up what remains of Syria by liberating areas that are controlled by Daesh (Islamic State) and Nusra," Riad Nassan Agha, a member of the opposition High Negotiations Committee, told Reuters by telephone.
The truce, accepted by Assad's government and most of his foes, is the first of its kind since the war began five years ago and has been accompanied by the first peace talks attended by the warring sides. It does not apply to areas held by Islamic State fighters or the Syrian branch of al Qaeda, known as the Nusra Front.
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