HOMS, Syria
Just hours after Daesh took over the Palmyra world heritage site in Syria, at least 15 people were killed in airstrikes allegedly carried out by Syrian regime forces in the area, an activist has said.
“The streets of Palmyra are full of corpses,” Ebu Abdurrahman, a local opposition media activist, said Thursday, adding that several other people were left injured in the incident.
Earlier, Omar Hamza, another local opposition media activist, told Anadolu Agency that Daesh had seized control of Tadmur city in the western province of Homs late Wednesday.
Daesh released prisoners who had been captured by regime forces from the city’s prison, Hamza said, without specifying the number of detainees involved.
State-run Syrian Arab News Agency later confirmed the reported data.
The Palmyra site dates back to the first century and boasts architecture representing mixed cultures, according to UNESCO.
Daesh was accused of destroying another Mosul historical site at the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud in March.
Fierce clashes, including heavy shelling, between the Syrian regime and Daesh on the outskirts of Tadmur had started last week.
Clashes took place after Daesh took control of the town of al-Sokhna located 70 kilometers (43 miles) east of Tadmur.
