Syria sends reinforcements as ISIS closes on ancient city
Syria's army dispatched reinforcements to Palmyra in a bid to push back jihadis who advanced Friday to within touching distance of the ancient city, officials and a monitor said, AFP reports.
"Islamic State group jihadis are now one kilometer (less than a mile) from the archeological site of Palmyra," Rami Abdel Rahman, director of activist group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP.
"The regime sent reinforcements and the army is bombing the surroundings of Tadmor from the air," he said, using the Arabic name for Palmyra.
UNESCO describes Palmyra as a heritage site of "outstanding universal value."
The ancient metropolis stood on a caravan route at the crossroads of several civilisations and its 1st and 2nd century temples and colonnaded streets mark a unique blend of Graeco-Roman and Persian influences.