Russian air force backs major effort to wrest Palmyra from ISIS
Syrian army and Hizballah forces, with Russian air support, are fighting to recover the world heritage town of Palmyra in eastern Syria from ISIS control.
Gen. Sergey Rudskovkys, the Russian army’s Director of Operations said: Everything necessary has been provided for the encirclement and definitive defeat of IS armed groups in Palmyra. DEBKAfile: Its defeat will relieve the towns of Homs and Hama now under ISIS threat and open the road to Raqqa, the Islamists’ de facto capital in Syria