Clash at Edge of Palmyra

Syrian Forces and ISIS Clash at Edge of Palmyra

By ANNE BARNARD

Syrian government troops and allied militias, backed by intensive Russian airstrikes, battled Islamic State militants on Thursday on the edge of Palmyra, the desert city they are seeking to retake from the group along with its majestic ancient ruins, Syrian state news media and residents said.

The battle, raging for weeks, carries deep symbolic significance, after Islamic State militants blew up some of Palmyra’s most important ancient structures, causing irrevocable damage to the Unesco World Heritage site.

Palmyra also occupies a strategic crossroads between the Islamic State’s territory in the east and the more populated coastal areas. Since the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, ISIL or Daesh, took over in May, residents have endured harsh rule and summary killings. They have also faced heavy bombing and the shelling of civilian areas by government and allied forces.

Syrian officials have said they could retake the city within hours or days. But the situation remained fluid on Thursday amid conflicting reports, with state television saying government forces had entered the city and residents saying they were still trying to battle their way in.

State television has broadcast footage showing that pro-government forces had reached hilltops within sight of the medieval citadel on the outskirts of the city, but nothing so far from inside. Residents reported on Thursday that Islamic State fighters were urging civilians, over loudspeakers, to leave the city, and that they had planted explosive devices in the palm groves and in archaeological areas on the outskirts.

The battle for Palmyra has been the main thrust of Russia’s military activities in Syria since President Vladimir V. Putin announced last week that he was scaling back airstrikes as a new round of peace talks began in Geneva.

Taking back Palmyra would be a political and military coup for the Syrian government and for Russia, its most powerful ally. The city is one of Syria’s most recognizable sites, and the destruction of monuments there, including the Temple of Bel, has spurred global outrage.

President Bashar al-Assad of Syria has long contended that he is defending world civilization against extremists like the Islamic State, and a victory in Palmyra would promote that idea. At the same time, his opponents, as well as some government supporters, note bitterly that Palmyra, also known as Tadmur, fell to the Islamic State after government forces fled in disarray.

According to the accounts of numerous residents and of pro-government fighters, soldiers and the police received few reinforcements as the Islamic State advanced on the city. Some fled through the desert. Others hid until they were found and killed, including one police officer who was part of a contingent sent there with few weapons when it was clear that it was falling to the Islamic State.

Taking back Palmyra is tricky, in that heavy exchanges of gun or mortar fire could end up further damaging the ancient ruins. Residents have reported major damage to civilian neighborhoods and infrastructure from the government and allied bombardments, accompanied by videos showing rubble and collapsed walls in the city center.

Khaled al-Homsi, an antigovernment activist from Palmyra who takes a special interest in its archaeological heritage — he is related to an archaeology expert and former official killed by the Islamic State — has complained for months that government and Russian attacks on the militants have come dangerously close to the ancient buildings.

Mr. Homsi, who uses a nom de guerre for safety reasons, said he had been forced to flee the city and had no hope of going home anytime soon, regardless of whether the Islamic State or the government is in charge.

“Unfortunately, both are my enemies,” he said.

Others who fled the Islamic State takeover said they would be overjoyed if government control were restored, however. But they cautioned that the fight was not over yet, and that the Islamic State was rumored to have prepared a barrage of car bombs to unleash if opposing forces try to storm the city.

“We should be patient,” said a cafe owner who fled to Turkey. “I’ll go back if security is restored, in spite of the destruction, which I’m hearing is huge.”

He, like other residents interviewed, asked that his name not be used, to avoid reprisals from all sides.

Residents of Palmyra have frequently found themselves caught uncomfortably in the middle. Many have fled, with some heading to Raqqa, Syria, the Islamic State’s de facto capital, where it was easier to get food, and smuggling themselves out from there to Turkey.

The Islamic State alternately courted those who remained with free bread and terrorized them with arbitrary punishments. Palmyra’s ancient amphitheater was used for a mass killing of captured government fighters. At the same time, residents now fear that returning government forces might carry out reprisals, accusing them of sympathizing with the Islamic State.

The cafe owner said that his workers had hidden the store’s tobacco in water pipes in the basement, because of the Islamic State’s disapproval of smoking on religious grounds. He said they kept the cafe open only to sell dates, which are hung to dry from strings stretched across the restaurant.

But Islamic State fighters, he said, recently closed the cafe and tortured one waiter “because the owner, who is me, used to feed the army with dates and tea.”

By all accounts, the recent fighting has been fierce, with major resources invested. The Russian government has said its warplanes are conducting 25 sorties in support of the offensive.

Russian officials have also acknowledged in recent days, for the first time, that Russian special forces remain involved on the ground. The Islamic State has claimed on its social media accounts that five Russian soldiers have been killed in the battle.

Nine pro-government fighters have died in the past day, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group. Heavy casualties were also reported earlier in the week, including 17 to 25 navy commandos who were killed either by a roadside bomb or by a friendly-fire airstrike, pro-government websites said.

Even the United States-led coalition has been involved in operations near the city. On Thursday, it reported carrying out one airstrike “near Palmyra” in the previous 24 hours, edging closer than usual to concerted battlefield action with Russia.

A Syrian soldier interviewed on state television outside Palmyra declared that the forces would take Palmyra and move beyond it, “God willing, to Raqqa, the center of the gangs of Daesh.”