(Zaman Al Wasl)- U.S.-backed rebels and Kurdish factions are pressing hard to take the Syrian-Iraqi border from the Islamic State, as regime army backed by a Russian cover makes advances in Palmyra, the capital of Syrian desert, activists said.
The radical group has been trapped in the Syrian desert, or Badiyet al-Sham, as fighting gets fierce with regime army near the ancient city of Palmyra and after losing al-Tanf border crossing to favor of U.S.-backed Syria's New Army.
ISIS has also endured to a setback northeastern Syria by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces that made rapid advances against ISIS in the last few months.
On Thursday, Regime forces fought their way into Palmyra as the army backed by Russian air cover sought to recapture the historic city from ISIS, Syrian state TV and a monitoring group said.
The army earlier this month launched a concerted offensive to retake Palmyra, which the ultra-hardline Islamist militants seized in May 2015, to open a road to the mostly IS-held eastern province of Deir al-Zor.
Islamic State has blown up ancient temples and tombs since capturing Palmyra, something the U.N. cultural agency UNESCO has called a war crime. The city, located at a crossroads in central Syria, is surrounded mostly by desert.
The capture of Palmyra and advances further eastwards into Deir al-Zor would mark the most significant Syrian regime gain against Islamic State since the start of Russia's military intervention last September.
Russia and the United States have agreed to push for direct talks between the Syrian regime and the opposition in Geneva, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday.
"As the immediate task we have agreed to push for the soonest start of direct talks between the government delegations and the whole spectrum of the opposition" that will help move toward "a transitional governance structure" in the war-torn country, Lavrov said. With Russia's help, Bashar al-Assad's military has already taken back some ground from IS, notably east of Aleppo, Syria's biggest city and commercial hub before the war. (With agencies)
The radical group has been trapped in the Syrian desert, or Badiyet al-Sham, as fighting gets fierce with regime army near the ancient city of Palmyra and after losing al-Tanf border crossing to favor of U.S.-backed Syria's New Army.
ISIS has also endured to a setback northeastern Syria by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces that made rapid advances against ISIS in the last few months.
On Thursday, Regime forces fought their way into Palmyra as the army backed by Russian air cover sought to recapture the historic city from ISIS, Syrian state TV and a monitoring group said.
The army earlier this month launched a concerted offensive to retake Palmyra, which the ultra-hardline Islamist militants seized in May 2015, to open a road to the mostly IS-held eastern province of Deir al-Zor.
Islamic State has blown up ancient temples and tombs since capturing Palmyra, something the U.N. cultural agency UNESCO has called a war crime. The city, located at a crossroads in central Syria, is surrounded mostly by desert.
The capture of Palmyra and advances further eastwards into Deir al-Zor would mark the most significant Syrian regime gain against Islamic State since the start of Russia's military intervention last September.
Russia and the United States have agreed to push for direct talks between the Syrian regime and the opposition in Geneva, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday.
"As the immediate task we have agreed to push for the soonest start of direct talks between the government delegations and the whole spectrum of the opposition" that will help move toward "a transitional governance structure" in the war-torn country, Lavrov said. With Russia's help, Bashar al-Assad's military has already taken back some ground from IS, notably east of Aleppo, Syria's biggest city and commercial hub before the war. (With agencies)
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