MOSCOW (Sputnik) — About 300 people were killed in the clashes between the Syrian government’s forces and the Islamic State jihadist group’s (ISIL) militants close to the ancient city of Palmyra, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said in a statement Sunday.
“SOHR could document the death of 295 people since the beginning of ISIL attack on the two cities of al-Sikhni and Tadmor [another name for the city of Palmyra] on May 13,” the statement reads.
SOHR added that among the victims there were 123 members of the Syrian governments forces, 115 ISIL militants and 57 civilians.
According to the monitor, during the last 24-hour period the government’s forces advanced in the Palmyra’s northern neighborhood, after the ISIL militants had to retreat amid intensive airstrikes.
Vast territories in Syria, which has been in the state of civil war since 2011, are currently controlled by the ISIL, as well as large swathes of Iraq.
The militants, notorious for their brutal methods, including mass executions, proclaimed caliphate on the lands that have fallen under the ISIL's control.
