A banner belonging to the Islamic court of the ISIS is seen on the ground after forces loyal to Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad recaptured Palmyra city, in Homs Governorate in this handout picture provided by SANA on March 27, 2016. REUTERS/SANA/caption]
After Syrian government forces backed by Russian air strikes have retaken the city of Palmyra from ISIS, it battled on Monday more ISIS insurgents around the ancient city, attempting to extend their gains after their last win.
A commander of the Desert Falcons unit of the Syrian army was reported saying that the “military operation to retake Palmyra lasted three days,” adding that the “main difficulty was that there were a lot of mines along the roads.”.
The loss of Palmyra on Sunday marked the first major setback for the extremist 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 ISIS 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 ISIS fighters.
There were clashes northeast of Palmyra between ISIS 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 towards Deir al-Zor, it said.
Although most of the ISIS force fled Palmyra on Sunday, there were still some militants in the city, the Observatory said. Observatory director Rami Abdulrahman also said most residents fled before the government offensive and it had not heard about any civilian deaths.
Abdulrahman said 417 Islamic State fighters were so far known to have died in the campaign to retake Palmyra, while 194 people were killed on the Syrian government side.
On Sunday six explosions were heard triggered by triple car bombings inside the city and its fringes by the jihadist group. Three militants with suicide belts also blew themselves up, inflicting unspecified casualties among army forces and allied troops, the Observatory said.
Syrian state-run television broadcast from inside Palmyra, showing empty streets and badly damaged buildings.
Antiquities experts said Monday they were deeply shocked by the destruction the extremists had carried out inside the town museum, with scores of priceless relics and statues demolished.
During their rule of Palmyra, the ultra-radicals smashed some of its well-known artifacts and monuments, including two large temples dating back more than 1,800 years and a Roman triumphal archway. They also demolished Palmyra’s infamous Tadmur prison, where thousands of government opponents were reportedly tortured.
ISIS also killed scores of people, including the archaeological site’s 81-year-old director, Riad al-Asaad, who was beheaded in August after he reportedly refused to divulge where authorities had hidden some of the treasures before ISIS took hold of the town.