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Heavy Russian airstrikes as Syrian army fights IS in Palmyra

A Syrian government soldier takes his position inside a damaged palace, at the entrance of Palmyra in this photo released Thursday by the Syrian official news agency SANA. (Uncredited / Associated Press)
Philip Issa Associated Press

BEIRUT – Syrian government forces backed by heavy Russian airstrikes have seized three neighborhoods inside Palmyra, a town with famed Roman-era ruins that fell to the Islamic State group last May, state media reported Saturday.

Russian jets carried out 40 air sorties near Palmyra in the past day, hitting 158 targets and killing over 100 militants, Russia’s defense ministry said.

Syrian troops and allied militiamen have taken up positions in the three neighborhoods that are part of the modern town, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Palmyra, known as the “bride of the desert,” used to attract tens of thousands of tourists every year. IS drove out government forces and later demolished some of the best-known monuments in the UNESCO world heritage site.

Retaking the town would be a major victory for President Bashar Assad’s government.

Syria’s government has been assisted in large part by Russia’s air campaign.

The battle for Palmyra, now entering its fourth week according to the Observatory, has not been easy. Government forces lost at least 18 soldiers Friday alone, the Observatory and IS-affiliated media sites reported. The Observatory’s figures indicate at least 56 soldiers have died in fighting this week.

On Saturday, Turkish air force jets joined coalition forces in attacking IS in northern Iraq, hours after a Turkish soldier was killed at a military base from rockets fired by the extremist militants.

Although Turkish jets have struck IS positions in Syria in the past, the attack marks Turkey’s first aerial assault on the group in northern Iraq.