Islamic State may take full control of the historic city of Palmyra by Sunday as the radical group makes significant advances of the city in the last few days, local activists said.
ISIS militants had seized control of al-Ameriya and al-Villat neighborhoods as well it number of government's headquarters, local activists told Zaman al-Wasl.
Most people of northern suburbs have fled the city, activists added.
Fighting between ISIS militants and the Syrian regime army was reported on Saturday near an ancient citadel in Palmyra, Reuters said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based group that reports on the war, said Islamic State militants had executed 23 people on Friday including nine minors and five women in areas seized from state control outside the city.
It marks the second mass execution reported since Islamic State advanced this week into the area some 240 km (150 miles) northeast of Damascus. In the first, the Observatory said the jihadists had executed 26 men, beheading 10 of them.
The Islamic State offensive in central Syria has added to the pressures facing government forces that have faced significant setbacks since late March in the four-year-long war.
Palmyra, also known as Tadmur, is home to extensive ruins of one of the most important cultural centers of the ancient world and was put on UNESCO's World Heritage danger list in 2013.
Islamic State, which espouses a puritanical Islamist ideology, has destroyed antiquities and ancient monuments in Iraq. The Syrian government's antiquities chief has said the jihadists will destroy Palmyra ruins too if they take the area.
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Fighting was also reported at a gas field to the east of Palmyra. A statement posted by Islamic State supporters on Twitter said the group had taken large parts of the gas field. (With Reuters)
ISIS militants had seized control of al-Ameriya and al-Villat neighborhoods as well it number of government's headquarters, local activists told Zaman al-Wasl.
Most people of northern suburbs have fled the city, activists added.
Fighting between ISIS militants and the Syrian regime army was reported on Saturday near an ancient citadel in Palmyra, Reuters said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based group that reports on the war, said Islamic State militants had executed 23 people on Friday including nine minors and five women in areas seized from state control outside the city.
It marks the second mass execution reported since Islamic State advanced this week into the area some 240 km (150 miles) northeast of Damascus. In the first, the Observatory said the jihadists had executed 26 men, beheading 10 of them.
The Islamic State offensive in central Syria has added to the pressures facing government forces that have faced significant setbacks since late March in the four-year-long war.
Palmyra, also known as Tadmur, is home to extensive ruins of one of the most important cultural centers of the ancient world and was put on UNESCO's World Heritage danger list in 2013.
Islamic State, which espouses a puritanical Islamist ideology, has destroyed antiquities and ancient monuments in Iraq. The Syrian government's antiquities chief has said the jihadists will destroy Palmyra ruins too if they take the area.
.
Fighting was also reported at a gas field to the east of Palmyra. A statement posted by Islamic State supporters on Twitter said the group had taken large parts of the gas field. (With Reuters)
Zaman Al Wasl
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