...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling
Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not
reallyMoslems....
gunnies who pushed into the historic town a day earlier.
Syrian opposition activists also confirmed that gunnies withdrew from a government building they had seized in the northern part of the town on Saturday, as festivities between the two sides continued.
Palmyra is home to one of the most famous world heritage sites in the Middle East, renowned for its Roman-era colonnades and 2,000-year-old ruins. The gunnies entered from the north Saturday and have not reached the UNESCO world heritage site, which is southwest of Palmyra.
Islamic State gunnies have destroyed and looted archaeological sites in Iraq and Syria. The group's advance on Palmyra has sparked alarm in the region and beyond. UNESCO chief Irina Bokova has said she is deeply concerned and called on all parties to spare Palmyra from the fighting.
Gov. Talal Barazi of Homs province said Syrian troops recaptured two hills from the gunnies late Saturday. He told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named that army reinforcements have been sent to shore up existing troops.
"Palmyra is safe and the road linking Homs with Palmyra is absolutely safe," he later told the state-run news agency
...and if you can't believe the state-run news agency who can you believe?...
SANA. The agency said the army inflicted heavy losses on gunnies in the IS-held villages of Sukhneh and Arak northeast of Palmyra.
An opposition media collective for Palmyra said life inside the town was normal and stores and businesses were gradually reopening. Clashes were continuing in surrounding areas.
The fall of Palmyra to IS gunnies would be an enormous blow for Syrian
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad
Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs...
, not only because of its cultural significance but also because it would open the road to Homs and the capital, Damascus.