Pro-Assad forces have launched a fierce bid to recapture Syria's ancient UNESCO heritage site, Palmyra, from jihadis. Meanwhile, John Kerry and Vladimir Putin met in Moscow to discuss the Syrian president's fate.
Image: dpa
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Syrian state TV said Thursday that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces have entered the historic town of Palmyra.
"The army is 300 meters from the entrance of Palmyra," an unnamed Syrian military source told the AFP news agency.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says government troops are facing tough resistance from IS extremists as they try to penetrate the town's eastern and southern limits.
Only some 15,000 of Palmyra's 70,000 residents have remained inside Palmyra since its fall to IS.
"The vast majority had already fled - only those too poor to flee stayed behind," Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said.
This undated photo released August 25, 2015, on a social media site used by Islamic State militants shows smoke from the detonation of the 2,000-year-old temple of Baalshamin in Syria's ancient caravan city of Palmyra.Image: picture alliance/AP Photo
The fate of Assad
The focus of Syria's war has shifted to Palmyra since Russian President Vladimir Putin - a key Assad ally - last week announced a partial withdrawal of troops from Syria's war amid negotiations in Geneva between the Assad government and the armed opposition.
In Moscow, US Secretary of State John Kerry held a rare meeting with Putin to discuss ways to ease Assad from power - a key demand of the Syrian opposition.
"We both know that more needs to be done in terms of both the reduction of violence and the flow of humanitarian goods," Kerry told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Bassma Kodmani, a spokeswoman for the Saudi-backed opposition alliance High Negotiations Committee (HNC), reiterated demands that Assad be required to step down as part of a political solution to the conflict.
"We hope Russia uses its leverage to ensure that Geneva III and UN Security Council resolution 2254 is implemented," Kodmani said, referring to the latest talks in Geneva.
The spokeswoman also noted that the sentencing of Radovan Karadzic, an ex-leader of Bosnian Serbs, for war crimes and genocide gives Syrians hope for the execution of international law.
"The trial of Karadzic gives us hope. There is international justice out there for the big criminals of Syria as well," Kodmani said.
The Geneva peace talks are proving sluggish though diplomats on all sides say they are committed to ending Syria's devastating conflict.
ls, jar/msh (AFP, Reuters)
Palmyra: Destruction of an oasis of cultural history
Palmyra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is considered one of the most beautiful ruined cities in the Middle East. Now the "Islamic State" has seized the area and started destroying these ancient structures.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Scholz
Ancient temple destroyed
This part of the World Heritage site in the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria no longer exists: "Islamic State" militants have blown up the 2,000-year-old temple of Baal Shamin. The inner area of the temple and the columns collapsed through the explosion. The rest of the ancient city remains strongly at risk.
Image: by-sa-Longbow4u
Ruins in a desert oasis
The ruins of Palmyra lie right in the middle of the Syrian desert. The once prosperous metropolis was surrounded by palms - hence its name - and for centuries was a stop for caravans traveling to the Silk Road. The settlement was a center of wealth and trade. But, gradually, the golden age faded, and sand blew over the city. The ruins were later excavated, and given World Heritage status in 1980.
Image: Fotolia/bbbar
Temple of Baal
In the 1st century AD, the Palmyrenes built a grand Roman-style temple for the deity Baal. It formed the center of religious life in Palmyra, which joined the Roman Empire under Emperor Tiberius some time after 14 AD. It is scarred with bullet holes - stark reminders of the ongoing Syrian civil war.
Image: picture-alliance/blickwinkel/F. Neukirchen
Avenue of treasures
Created in the 2nd century, the Great Colonnade stretches on for more than a kilometer (0.6 miles). Spices, perfumes, precious stones and other treasures once passed down this magnificent colonnaded boulevard. The avenue's entrance is marked by Hadrian's Arch, built in honor of the Roman Emperor Hadrian. It's a fine example of the Greco-Roman style, extremely popular at the time.
Image: Louai Beshara/AFP/Getty Images
Roman monument
The Tetrapylon of Palmyra was built on a crossroads. The four groups of slender pillars, each supporting an alcove, were made of red granite brought in from the quarries of Aswan. Each one used to house statues. Today, almost all the columns are replicas. Only one is an original.
Image: Fotolia/waj
Oriental drama
Palmyra bore many characteristics of a Greco-Roman city. It had a portico, thermal baths and an amphitheater. Many oriental dramas were performed on this stage. Unfortunately, the plays, written in Aramaic, haven't survived. In addition to being a theater, the arena was also used for battles between gladiators and animals.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Marczok
Forum of high society
Some 200 statues of important individuals once stood here, taking up honored positions in the porticoes of the agora, or main square. In the agora's southwestern corner the remains of a building where the city council likely held its meetings can be seen. The council was made up of representatives from influential merchant families, responsible for shaping the fortunes of the desert city.
Image: picture-alliance/Robert Harding World Imagery/C. Rennie
Ornate burial
There are a number of burial grounds just outside the city gates. Large families built tall towers housing ornate sarcophagi and tombs big enough for several generations. There are also many underground gravesites decorated with rich architectural flourishes and frescoes that hint at the daily life and wealth of that period.
Image: Imago/A. Schmidhuber
Impending destruction?
In 300 AD, Palmyra became a military base, and came under the power of a string of different rulers. The golden age faded, and the city's splendor was covered up by the desert sand. The city's ruins survived the civil war raging in the country since 2011, but now, the ancient city is under threat from "Islamic State" militants, and UNESCO fears it could face a tragic fate.
