Heavy Fighting in Battle for Palmyra in Syria
by VOA News March 26, 2016
Syrian government forces moved deeper into the Islamic State controlled city of Palmyra Saturday, recapturing several neighborhoods.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and regional media outlets reported air strikes and artillery bombardment, saying that waves of explosions hit buildings, and smoke could be seen rising from many locations.
The observatory described fighting for the ancient desert city as the heaviest assault yet in a campaign by the Syrian army and its ally militia fighters backed by Russian ground and air forces.
Casualties
According to the monitoring group, the battle for Palmyra, now in its fourth week, has been costly for government forces that lost at least 10 soldiers Saturday. 18 others were reported killed Friday.
Palmyra, coined as the "bride of the desert," used to attract tens of thousands of tourists every year.
IS took the city from government forces in a matter of days in May 2015 and later demolished many famous Roman-era monuments in the UNESCO world heritage site.
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