A Cleaving Blow: Palmyra's Liberation Spells Doom for Daesh

Retaking the city of Palmyra, a place of considerable historical and geographical importance, will allow the Syrian forces to effectively bisect their Daesh enemies and present an opportunity to establish control over the border with Iraq, according to Col. Gen. Alexander Dvornikov, commander of the Russian military taskforce that has been deployed to Syria.

"The city of Palmyra, located in the eastern part of Syria, is blocked and the fight to liberate it continues. Securing this city – a place of special historical and geographical significance to Syria – will effectively split the Daesh forces in two. It will also open the road to Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor, not to mention [provide us with] the opportunity to establish control over the border with Iraq,| Dvornikov said, according to RIA Novosti.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Arab Army forces, aided by militia units, have already liberated the historical part of the ancient city and continue to hammer the Islamist forces that remain entrenched in an attempt to hold the location.

Palmyra has been under Daesh control since May 2015. The terrorist group, which has been blacklisted in many countries including Russia and the United States, has already destroyed part of the ancient city, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site.