BEIRUT, Lebanon, March 24 (UPI) -- Syrian military forces pushed into Palmyra on Thursday in an attempt to take back the ancient city, held by the Islamic State since May.
Backed by allied forces, including Russian airstrikes, the military is moving toward capturing the city where IS militants destroyed priceless artifacts that were once part of a cultural center in the Roman Empire in the first and second centuries. The militant group, also known as ISIS, ISIL and Daesh, destroyed a 2,000-year-old temple, among other things.