On Wednesday night, following a week of fighting, ISIL seized the ancient city of Palmyra in central Syria. Palmyra is one of the most important cultural and archaeological sites in the Middle East. A majority of Palmyra`s population and many of the more valuable and portable artifacts were evacuated before government forces withdrew from the city.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), Islamic State group now controls more than 50 percent of the country of Syria.
ISIL regularly frees prisoners in cities they capture. Earlier this week it was reported that the group released some 400 inmates, including known terrorist leaders, from a prison in the Iraqi city of Ramadi.
More about:
