Islamic State militants have entered Syria’s historic city of Palmyra, a UNESCO landmark, after gaining full control over the city, a monitoring group said Thursday. The extremists now control more than 50 percent of Syrian territory, it adds.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told AFP that overnight IS seized most of the city, including an army intelligence outpost, a military airport and a prison.
"IS fighters are in all parts of Tadmur [Arabic name for Palmyra], including near the archaeological site,"Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said.
The militants confirmed on Twitter that they gained full control over the ancient city, Reuters reported.
The remains of Palmyra, once one of the world's key cultural hubs, stand in the middle of the desolate Tadmorean Desert in Syria.
The monitoring group says that this is the first time the jihadists have taken a large population center directly from Syrian pro-government forces. The group is already controlling wide areas in Syria's north and east.
