BEIRUT (AP) – Islamic State militants seized parts of the ancient town of Palmyra in central Syria on Wednesday after fierce clashes with government troops, renewing fears the extremist group would destroy the priceless archaeological site if it reaches the ruins.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the militants gained control of as much as a third of the town in heavy clashes during the day. Palmyra is home to a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is famous for its 2,000-year-old majestic Roman colonnades.
The majority of the ruins are located in Palmyra’s south, and the militants entered Wednesday from the north after seizing the state security building from government forces. But their presence has sparked concerns they would destroy the ruins as they have done with major archaeological sites in neighboring Iraq.
Following setbacks in both Syria and Iraq, Islamic State fighters appear to have gotten a second wind in recent days, capturing Ramadi, capital of Iraq’s largest Sunni province, and advancing in central Syria to the outskirts of Palmyra.
In Iraq, thousands of displaced people fleeing from Ramadi and the violence in the western Anbar province poured into Baghdad Wednesday after the central government waived restrictions and granted them conditional entry, a provincial official said.