IS withdraws from Syria's Palmyra after heavy Russian raids: monitor

BEIRUT: Islamic State group fighters withdrew from Syria's Palmyra at dawn on Sunday following heavy Russian air strikes, only hours after they had re-entered the famed ancient city, a monitor said.

"Intense Russian raids since last night forced IS out of Palmyra, hours after the jihadists retook control of the city," said Rami Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group.

The raids killed a large number of the jihadists in the desert city in central Syria, Abdel Rahman said, without being able to give a precise number.