Tadmur

Illustration - Photo: Al-Alam

BELGRADE - Syrian government forces managed to evacuate some 80 percent of Palmyra population, the fate of the rest is cause for concerns, Homs Governor Talal Barazi announced.

"Some 80 percent of Palmyra residents have been evacuated, we are concerned with the fate of those who are remaining there," Barazi said in a statement on Sunday.

BELGRADE - President Bashar al-Assad vowed Tuesday to fight on in what he called Syria's war against terrorism, showing no sign of compromise in his first major address since peace talks broke down in April.

When two Polish heritage experts first restored the famed lion statue in Syria's Palmyra in 2005, they never imagined they would see it smashed to pieces only a decade later.    

Experts back from assessing damage at the museum in Palmyra offered grim new details April 16 about the extent of the destruction caused by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group during the 10 months it ruled the ancient town.

B92 reporter Aleksandra Godfroa is in Palmyra and will over the next week file reports from this Syrian town.

Syria's antiquities chief said on March 28 that his department would need five years to restore the ancient ruins of Palmyra damaged by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), while Syrian government forces backed by Russian air strikes battled ISIL around Palmyra, trying to extend their gains.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) suffered a double setback in Syria on March 25 as army troops recaptured the ancient citadel in Palmyra and the Pentagon said the jihadists' second-in-command was killed in a U.S. raid.

Syrian troops backed by Russian warplanes on March 24 advanced into the ancient city of Palmyra, which has been under jihadist control for nearly a year, a monitor and a military source said.

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) extremists have blown up the famous Arch of Triumph in the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra, the country's head of antiquities said Oct.5, as the jihadists press their campaign to tear down the treasured heritage site.

At a conference on combatting the looting of Syria?s cultural heritage, UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova said satellite imagery shows that archaeological sites in Syria are dotted by thousands of illegal excavations Not only are many being destroyed, archaeological sites in Syria are also being looted ?on an industrial scale,?