Heavy Russian airstrikes as Syrian army fights IS in Palmyra
BEIRUT - Syrian government forces backed by heavy Russian airstrikes have seized three neighborhoods inside Palmyra, a town with famed Roman-era ruins that fell to the Islamic State group last May, state media reported Saturday.
Russian jets carried out 40 air sorties near Palmyra in the past day, hitting 158 targets and killing over 100 militants, Russia's defense ministry said.
Syrian troops and allied militiamen have taken up positions in the three neighborhoods that are part of the modern town, according to Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group.
