Syrian army aims for eastward advance with Palmyra attack

BEIRUT: The Syrian army backed by Russian air strikes is aiming to capture the historic city of Palmyra from Islamic State to open a road to the eastern province of Deir al-Zor in an offensive that got under way this week, a source close to the Syrian government said.

The Russian air force has hit Palmyra with dozens of air strikes since Wednesday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group.

Syrian government forces were on Friday battling Islamic State some 7 km from the ancient site that fell to the Jihadists last May.

Observatory Director Rami Abdulrahman described it as a large-scale assault, calling it a "real operation to retake control".

The source close to Damascus said the aim was to "seize the road from Tadmur (Palmyra) to Deir al-Zor".

Islamic State has blown up ancient temples and tombs since capturing Palmyra in what the UN cultural agency Unesco has called a war crime.

The city, located at a crossroads in central Syria, is surrounded mostly by desert.

The Islamic State group is not included in a cessation of hostilities agreement that took effect on Feb 27 and has brought about a lull in fighting between the government and rebels battling President Bashar al-Assad in western Syria.

Since the Russian air force intervened in support of Assad last September, tilting the military balance his way, Western states have criticised Moscow for directing most of its air strikes at rebels in western Syria rather than IS.

The capture of Palmrya and further eastward advances into Islamic State-held Deir al-Zor would mark the most significant Syrian government gain against IS since the start of the Russian intervention.

With Russia’s help, Damscus has already taken back some ground from IS, notably east of Aleppo.

The momentum has turned against Islamic State since its rapid advances two years ago following the capture of the Iraqi city of Mosul.  Its finances are also under strain, with fighters’ pay cut by up to a half.