Palmyra falls under ISIS control

Islamic State militants have taken near complete control of the Syrian city of Palmyra, home to some of the world's most magnificent ancient ruins.

There are fears that the militants will destroy the ruins, which Unesco has designated a World Heritage site.

Government troops have almost entirely withdrawn from the city following an IS advance, BBC reported quoting eyewitnesses.

IS militants have demolished several ancient sites that pre-date Islam in Iraq, including Hatra and Nimrud.

Activists earlier said the group controlled much of north Tadmur, the modern town adjoining the ancient site of Palmyra, after overcoming militias loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.

Hundreds of Palmyra's statues have been moved to safety but large monuments from the ancient parts of the city could not be moved.

"This is the entire world's battle," said Syria's head of antiquities Maamoun Abdul Karim.

Rising out of the desert, Palmyra contains the monumental ruins of a great city that was one of the most important cultural centres of the ancient world, according to Unesco, the UN's cultural agency.

The site, most of which dates back to the 1st and 2nd Century when the region was under Roman rule, is dominated by a grand, colonnaded street.

Unesco's Director-General Irina Bokova said she was "deeply concerned" by the situation.

Syrian men gestures as they remove bodies from under the rubble of buildings following a reported barrel bomb attack by government forces on the Qadi Askar district of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, yesterday. Photo: AFP

"The fighting is putting at risk one of the most significant sites in the Middle East, and its civilian population," she said in a statement.

Palmyra and Tadmur are situated in a strategically important area on the road between the capital, Damascus, and the contested eastern city of Deir al-Zour, and close to gas fields.

The world's focus is on the ruins and IS has taken pleasure in devastating and destroying similarly priceless, pre-Islamic archaeological treasures in Iraq, condemning them as idolatrous, says BBC Arab affairs analyst, Sebastian Usher.

A US-led coalition has carried out air strikes on the jihadist group's positions since September 2014. However, it says it does not co-ordinate its actions with the Syrian government.

Wait to cross Bzeibez bridge, on the southwestern frontier of Baghdad, yesterday, Photo: AFP