BEIRUT: ISIS militants stormed the Syrian city of Palmyra Wednesday, seizing it from government forces in fierce fighting as civilians fled and Syria's antiquities chief called on the World to save its ancient monuments.
Syrian state television said pro-government fighters withdrew from Palmyra in large numbers.
In a newsflash it said most of the city's civilian population had been evacuated before the withdrawal. ISIS fighters were trying to enter Palmyra's historical sites and establish themselves there, it said.