Islamic State group tells 15,000 civilians to leave

The Islamic State group called on the 15,000 or so civilians still living in Palmyra to leave the famed ancient city on Thursday as Syrian pro-government forces closed in, a monitoring group said.

“IS called on loudspeakers on civilians still in Palmyra to leave as fighting reached the outskirts of the city,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Syrian troops and militia are poised for a final assault on the city, which IS has held since May last year, after advancing to within two kilometres (a mile) yesterday. It is the culmination of an offensive that the army launched at the beginning of the month with the support of intense Russian air raids.

Despite the exactions of the jihadists, which have included public beheadings in the city's ancient amphitheatre, some 15,000 of Palmyra's 70,000 residents stayed on under IS rule, according to Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman.