BEIRUT: Syrian government aircraft carried out intense strikes on Monday (May 25) against the Islamic State (IS) group in and around the ancient city of Palmyra after its fall to the extremists, a military source said.
"The air force struck more than 160 Daesh targets, killing and wounding terrorists and destroying weapons and vehicles equipped with machineguns" on Palmyra's outskirts and elsewhere in the east of Homs province, the source said. "We are pursuing Daesh wherever they are," the source said, using the Arabic acronym for IS.
"Military operations, including air raids, are ongoing in the area around Al-Suknah, Palmyra, the Arak and Al-Hail gas fields and all the roads leading to Palmyra," he said.
State television said "more than 50 Daesh terrorists" had been killed in the air strikes.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least four civilians had been killed in the raids, which were the most intense since the extremists overran the city on Thursday.