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Islamic State militants took control of areas of the historic Syrian city of Palmyra from government forces in fierce fighting today, and the Syrian antiquities chief called on the world to save its ancient heritage from the jihadists.
The central city, known as Tadmur in Arabic, is home to a Unesco World Heritage site and is also a strategic military location in central Syria linked by highways to the cities of Homs and Damascus, some 240km to the southwest.
Rebels including al-Qaeda’s local affiliate seized the Syrian regime’s largest remaining military base in northwestern Idlib province on Tuesday, a monitor said.
The loss of Al Mastumah base leaves only a few positions in regime hands in the province, which lies along the border with Turkey and neighbours the government stronghold of Latakia province on the Mediterranean coast.
Thousands of mostly Shiite paramilitary forces converged Monday on Iraq’s Anbar province, after Iraq’s prime minister ordered them into battle to help retake the capital of the predominantly Sunni province from Islamic State.
Anbar’s provincial council said 3,000 fighters from the so-called Popular Mobilization Units, a force of mostly Shiite recruits and militias, had arrived at the Habanniya military base, 16 miles east of the provincial capital, Ramadi. They were “well-equipped” to fight alongside local Sunni tribesman, according to a statement.
Saudi forces on Monday targeted Yemeni Houthi militiamen across the border after the fighters fired at an army outpost.
The fighting comes as a Saudi-led Arab coalition resumed air strikes on the Iranian-allied Houthi militia positions in and around the southern Yemeni city of Aden overnight after a five-day humanitarian truce expired on Sunday.
ISIS militants on Sunday seized control of the Iraqi city of Ramadi after days of fighting and the country’s prime minister pleading with security forces not to abandon their posts, dealing a blow to U.S.-backed efforts.
Government forces retreated from bases, according to Agence France-Presse and Associated Press reporters, abandoning weapons, vehicles, and equipment as they fled the advance of the extremist Sunni militants on Ramadi, the capital of Iraq’s largest province.