At least 30 killed in ISIS attack on Syrian army near Palmyra

At least 30 Syrian army troops and Iran-backed forces were killed on Tuesday when ISIS attacked a military outpost near Palmyra in eastern Syria, a war monitor and residents said.

Suicide bombers and armoured vehicles were used in the attack at dawn near a dam southeast of the ancient city.

This comes a day after forces loyal to President Bashar Al Assad flushed out the extremists from their last enclave in southern Damascus.

ISIS has seized Palmyra twice since Syria’s civil war broke out in 2011 and destroyed priceless artifacts.

AFP cited a former residents from the eastern Homs countryside near Palmyra still in touch with local people who said the militants had come from hideouts in the vast stretch of desert they once controlled. He added that at least 30 troops and militiamen were killed.