Posted on 03/27/2016 5:18:08 AM PDT by mac_truck
BEIRUT - Syrian government forces drove Islamic State fighters out of Palmyra on Sunday, the army said, inflicting a major defeat on the militants who seized the desert city last year and dynamited its ancient temples.
The army general command said in a statement that it had restored security and stability to the city in an operation it said showed that Islamic State was beginning to retreat and collapse.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said there were still clashes on the eastern edge of Palmyra, around the prison and inside the airport, but the bulk of the Islamic State force had withdrawn and retreated east, leaving Palmyra under President Bashar al-Assad's control.
Syrian state-run television broadcast from inside Palmyra on Sunday morning, showing largely deserted streets and several badly damaged buildings.
It quoted a military source saying Syrian and Russian jets were targeting Islamic State fighters as they fled, hitting dozens of vehicles on the roads leading east from the city.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnbc.com ...
My understanding is the Taliban and ISIS are two separate entities and in areas where the two groups overlap like Afghanistan, they'll fight. Both are Sunni extremists but that's where the similarity ends.
ISIS is more like an off shoot of Al Qaeda with some Sadaam Hussein hardliners thrown in.
“Syrian and Russian jets were targeting Islamic State fighters as they fled, hitting dozens of vehicles on the roads leading east from the city.”
That’s against the rules! No fair! We let the convoys freely move from town to town, that’s how we have always done it. Its a tradition, we even gave them a fleet of Toyotas for it. That’s it, they aren’t going to be allowed into the USAF effort now.
All over their imaginary guy in the sky, their invisible friend.
“Their god is cruel. Why would anyone want to worship him?”
He’s also make believe. Like the imaginary friend a 4 year old night have. Utter insanity.
Hopefully another highway of death:
I wonder if they gave them a leaflet warning to abandon their vehicles before the bumbing like we did with the highway of death.
Awww, it’s just a little vandalism.
YEah... about those Toyotas... so much for them.
Good. [as long as they are accurate and hit the correct spots]
ISIS is growing increasingly vulnerable to collapse.
From Palmyra, Deir ez Zour is vulnerable, to cut off the Euphrates River rat line. The Kurds are in striking distance to the North of Deir ez Zour.
The Northern supply route to Turkey is only about fifty miles wide, and the regime and the Kurds have a similar tightening from East and West.
When those doors close on ISIS, it will all be over in Syria, except to bleed out.
Things could go faster, but they all seem to be going against ISIS in Syria.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.