Syrian army retakes Palmyra

BEIRUT -- Syria's military announced Thursday it had recaptured the historic town of Palmyra from the Islamic State group as the militants' defenses crumbled and IS fighters fled in the face of artillery fire and intense Russia-backed airstrikes.

The development marks the third time the town -- famed for its priceless Roman ruins and archaeological treasures IS had sought to destroy -- has changed hands in one year.

It was also the second blow for the Islamic State group in Syria in a week after Turkish-backed opposition fighters seized the Syrian town of al-Bab from the militants Feb. 23, following a grueling three-month battle.

In neighboring Iraq, the Sunni extremist group is fighting for survival in its last urban bastion in the western part of the city of Mosul.

For the Syrian government, the news was a welcome development against the backdrop of peace talks underway with the opposition in Switzerland.

"You are all invited to visit the historic city of Palmyra and witness its beauty now that it has been liberated," the Damascus envoy to the U.N.-mediated talks, Bashar al-Ja'afari, told reporters in Geneva.

"Of course, counterterrorism operations will continue until the last inch of our territory is liberated from the hands of these foreign terrorist organizations, which are wreaking havoc in our country," he added.

The Damascus military statement said troops gained full control of the desert town in central Syria after a series of military operations carried out with the help of Russian air cover and in cooperation with "allied and friendly troops" -- government shorthand for members of Lebanese militant Hezbollah group who are fighting along Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces.

IS defenses around Palmyra had begun to erode Sunday, with government troops reaching the town's outskirts Tuesday.

The state SANA news agency reported earlier government troops had entered the town's archaeological site -- a UNESCO World Heritage Site -- around mid-day, then entered the town itself as IS militants fled the area.

This is the Syrian government's second campaign to retake Palmyra. It seized the town from Islamic State militants last March, only to lose it again 10 months later.

Before the civil war gripped Syria in 2011, Palmyra was a top tourist attraction, drawing tens of thousands of visitors each year.

The Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, had said earlier Russian President Vladimir Putin was informed by his defense minister Syrian troops had gained control of Palmyra, with support from Russian warplanes.

The Syrian government's push has relied on ground support from Hezbollah and Russian air cover, according to Hezbollah's media outlets.

Archeologists have decried what they say is extensive damage to its ruins.

Drone footage released by Russia's Defense Ministry earlier this month showed new damage to the facade of Palmyra's Roman-era theater and the adjoining Tetrapylon -- a set of four monuments with four columns each at the center of the colonnaded road leading to the theater.

A 2014 report by a U.N. research agency disclosed satellite evidence of looting while the ruins were under Syrian military control. Opposition factions also have admitted to looting the antiquities for funds.

IS militants have twice used the town's Roman theater as a stage for mass killings, most recently in January, when they shot and beheaded a number of captives they said had tried to escape their December advance.

Other IS killings were said to have taken place in the courtyard of the Palmyra museum and in a former Russian base in the town.