Atop the ruins of Syria’s famed Palmyra theatre, recently recaptured from the Islamic State group, teenage musician Angel Dayoub sings an old Arabic favourite: “We’re coming back, oh love, we’re coming back.” The 15-year-old’s voice floats over the ancient Roman theatre, heavily damaged then abandoned by IS jihadists on Thursday as Russian-backed government forces drew … Read more
Syrian troops backed by Russian jets completed the recapture of the historic city of Palmyra from the Islamic State group Thursday, the Kremlin and the army said, in another blow to the jihadists. Bolstered by air strikes and ground troops from their ally Moscow, Syrian forces battled through the desert for weeks to reach Palmyra. … Read more
Syria’s ancient city of Palmyra, which government forces are again battling to retake from jihadists, has become a symbol of the Islamic State group’s wanton destruction of cultural heritage. The city and its ruins, designated a UNESCO world heritage site in 1980, have traded hands several times during Syria’s civil war. IS first seized Palmyra … Read more
Islamic State group fighters withdrew from much of the Syrian oasis city of Palmyra overnight, a monitor said Thursday, but government forces paused before entering its ravaged ancient ruins because of mines. Russian-backed Syrian troops pushed into a western neighbourhood of the city late on Wednesday after fierce clashes with the jihadists. By Thursday morning, … Read more
Syria’s army entered the ancient city of Palmyra late Wednesday after fierce battles against the Islamic State jihadist group, a monitor said. “The army has entered a western neighbourhood of Palmyra and has seized control of part of it,” Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP. “There are clashes … Read more
Syrian government forces backed by Russian soldiers advanced Wednesday to the outskirts of ancient Palmyra after battles with the Islamic State group, a monitor and a military source said. “Regime forces and Russian troops are about one kilometre from the city,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. After seizing … Read more
Two rare busts rescued from the Islamic State group in the ancient city of Palmyra and restored in Italy have been returned to Syria, the country’s antiquities director said Wednesday. “The two statues were returned to Syria on Tuesday and added to the 400 artefacts that were rescued from Palmyra,” Maamun Abdul Karim told AFP. … Read more
Suicide attacks on two security service bases in the heart of Syria’s government-held third city of Homs killed 42 people on Saturday, overshadowing peace talks in Geneva, state television and a monitor said. “There were at least six attackers and several of them blew themselves up near the headquarters of state security and military intelligence,” … Read more
Syrian government officials and opposition figures will gather in Geneva on Thursday for the fourth round of UN-brokered talks aimed at ending their country’s brutal six-year conflict. Here is a breakdown of the forces involved in the complex war, which has killed more than 310,000 people since it broke out in 2011: The Syrian army’s … Read more
Two rare busts rescued from the Islamic State group’s destruction of the ancient city of Palmyra will soon be heading back to Syria, after a painstaking restoration in Italy. Recovered by Syrian troops, they had been badly disfigured with what appeared to be hammer blows and are perhaps the only such artefacts to leave the … Read more
Russia’s military on Monday released drone footage showing more destruction of treasured monuments by the Islamic State in Syria’s Palmyra since jihadists recaptured the UNESCO World Heritage Site late last year. The black-and-white video dated February 5 shows part of the Roman amphitheatre reduced to rubble and the tetrapylon, a 16-columned structure that marked one … Read more
A German-Ghanaian Islamic State defector who claimed in news interviews to have refused to commit violence for the group has been charged by German authorities with murder and war crimes for his role in a mass execution in Syria in 2015. Harry Sarfo, a 28-year-old German citizen, appeared in front-page articles and television broadcasts last … Read more
A German-Ghanaian Islamic State defector who claimed in news interviews to have refused to commit violence for the group has been charged by German authorities with murder and war crimes for his role in a mass execution in Syria in 2015. Harry Sarfo, a 28-year-old German citizen, appeared in front-page articles and television broadcasts last … Read more
A German-Ghanaian Islamic State defector who claimed in news interviews to have refused to commit violence for the group has been charged by German authorities with murder and war crimes for his role in a mass execution in Syria in 2015. Harry Sarfo, a 28-year-old German citizen, appeared in front-page articles and television broadcasts last … Read more
German prosecutors have added six counts of murder and war crimes to the charges against an imprisoned Islamic State member from Germany who attracted global attention after claiming disillusionment and disgust with the terrorist group. The new accusations, announced by the prosecutors on Tuesday, were brought three months after a video surfaced suggesting that the … Read more
The Islamic State (IS) group has retaken the Syrian city of Palmyra, hours after Russian air strikes appeared to have driven it back. The governor of Homs province, Talal Barazi, said government forces were now regrouping outside the ancient city, preparing to launch a fresh assault. IS held the city from May 2015 until it … Read more
A look inside the ruins after they were recaptured from so-called Islamic State in March Islamic State group fighters have re-entered Palmyra, nine months after losing the ancient Syrian desert city. Monitoring groups say militants and pro-government forces fought fiercely in the centre of Palmyra. An activist there told the BBC that the city was … Read more
Islamic State group fighters have re-entered Palmyra, nine months after losing the ancient Syrian desert city, activists say. IS held Palmyra and its nearby ruins for 10 months before it was recaptured by Syrian government forces in March. But the jihadist group launched an offensive earlier this week. Meanwhile, Russian-backed Syrian government forces are closing … Read more