Syria pushes ISIS back from Palmyra

Syrian troops pushed Islamic State group jihadists back from the ancient city of Palmyra yesterday, easing fears over the world heritage site, after fighting that left hundreds dead.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said nearly 300 people have been killed in four days of fighting since IS launched an assault on the desert oasis city on Wednesday.

The toll comprised 123 soldiers and loyalist militiamen, 115 ISIS fighters as well as 57 civilians, dozens of whom were executed by the jihadists, the Observatory said, quoting sources on the ground.

On Saturday the jihadists pressed their offensive and seized the northern part of the modern town of Palmyra, known as Tadmur in Arabic, but were driven out by regime forces.

Provincial governor Talal Barazi told AFP the army was "still combing the streets for bombs" after recapturing the northern districts.

But the Observatory said clashes were still under way yesterday in the northern suburb of Al-Amiriyah, around the prison east of the city and around Haql al-Hail gas field northeast of Palmyra.

Syrian antiquities chief Mamoun Abdulkarim expressed relief that ISIS, known for its wanton destruction of archaeological sites in territory it controls in Syria and Iraq, did not attack the site.

The antiquities chief said he had been "living in a state of terror" that ISIS would destroy the first and second century temples and colonnaded streets that are among Palmyra's architectural treasures.

On Thursday, UNESCO chief Irina Bokova appealed to Syrian troops and jihadists to spare Palmyra, which the organisation describes as one of the most important cultural centres of the ancient world.