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| Russian air strikes 'force IS out of Palmyra' | Russian air strikes 'force IS out of Palmyra' |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Fighters from so-called Islamic State group have been forced from the centre of the Syrian city of Palmyra, hours after they had attempted to retake it. | Fighters from so-called Islamic State group have been forced from the centre of the Syrian city of Palmyra, hours after they had attempted to retake it. |
| Russian air strikes forced the militants to retreat to the outskirts, a local monitoring group said. | Russian air strikes forced the militants to retreat to the outskirts, a local monitoring group said. |
| The Syrian army also sent reinforcements to the city, reportedly diverting troops from Aleppo. | The Syrian army also sent reinforcements to the city, reportedly diverting troops from Aleppo. |
| IS held the Unesco World Heritage site of Palmyra from May 2015 until they were forced out in March this year. | IS held the Unesco World Heritage site of Palmyra from May 2015 until they were forced out in March this year. |
| The group launched its offensive earlier in the week, before re-entering Palmyra on Saturday. | |
| Amid fierce fighting, an activist there told the BBC that the city fell "more or less" into IS hands. | |
| Now the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says "intense" bombing from Russian planes forced IS to withdraw to the orchards on the city's outskirts. Fighting continues in those areas. | |
| The attack on Palmyra was a surprise setback and distraction for the government of President Bashar al-Assad. | |
| It happened as his Russian-backed government forces closed in on the remaining rebel-held area of the city of Aleppo. | |
| Rebel forces said on Saturday they had halted the advance of government forces in the small pockets they still control in Aleppo. | |
| One commander of a group said a possible reason for the slowed government advance could be the redeployment of troops to Palmyra. |