1st LD: Syrian army retakes ancient Palmyra city

The Syrian army fully recaptured the ancient city of Palmyra in central Syria on Sunday, following days of intense battles against the Islamic State (IS) group, state-run TV said.

The Syrian army and its allied fighters destroyed the last position of the IS in Palmyra, and started combing the city to dismantle explosive devices, said the report.

Meanwhile, a military source told Xinhua that the IS withdrew from the city under the heavy attack and shelling of the Syrian army.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the IS militants pulled out toward the town of Sukhneh, east of the central province of Homs.

The ancient city of Palmyra is booby-trapped, said the source, adding that bomb squads have started defusing the explosives.

The city fell to the IS militants last May and the Syrian army started a broad offensive to recapture it several days ago.

Since capturing it last May, the terror-labeled IS group destroyed the city's military prison and several Islamic tombs.

The IS also put on public executions of soldiers and people accused of working for the government.

Palmyra contains the monumental ruins of a great city that was one of the most important cultural centers of the ancient world.

Syria has many prehistoric, Greek, Byzantine and Islamic heritages. Before the crisis, Syria had attracted many multinational archaeological missions coming for searching new clues of historical facts on the development of civilizations. Endi