Syria troops press advance

Syrian forces strengthened their hold on Palmyra yesterday and pushed forward against the Islamic State jihadist group after dealing it a major blow by retaking the ancient city.

Antiquities director Maamoun Abdulkarim said that with Unesco's approval the treasured monuments damaged or destroyed by the jihadists could be restored in five years.

[facebook href="https://www.facebook.com/abcnews.au/videos/10154943023124988/?autoplay_reason=user_settings&video_container_type=0&app_id=239295" width="500"][/facebook]Government troops and allied militia, backed by Russian air and ground support, overran Palmyra on Sunday morning after nearly 10 months of IS rule.

President Bashar al-Assad hailed the victory as "fresh proof of the efficiency of the Syrian army and its allies in fighting terrorism".

Regime forces turned to nearby IS-held towns yesterday, including Al-Qaryatain, southwest of Palmyra, and Sukhnah towards the northeast.

"The army was concentrated around Al-Qaryatain, and today (Monday) the military operations began there," a military source in Palmyra told AFP.

"That is the next goal for the Syrian army. They also have their eyes on Sukhnah."

The head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman, said the capture of Sukhnah would bring government forces to the gates of oil-rich Deir Ezzor province, an IS bastion.

IS overran Palmyra -- a Unesco world heritage site known as the "Pearl of the Desert" -- in May 2015 and used its ancient amphitheatre for public executions as the world watched in horror.

The extremist group blew up temples and tower tombs, as part of it campaign against pre-Islamic monuments it considers "blasphemous."

An AFP correspondent in Palmyra saw the Temple of Bel and the Arch of Triumph in pieces on Sunday, with some large stones marred by spray painted messages in support of IS.

Yesterday, army sappers continued to defuse roadside bombs and mines that IS had planted in the ancient city as it retreated.

One soldier said more than 50 bombs had already been defused as other units worked on the controlled detonation of more complex devices.

Antiquities chief Maamoun Abdulkarim said that with Unesco support, his department would need five years to restore the monuments destroyed by IS, and that a preliminary assessment showed 80 percent of the ancient site was "in good shape".

The famed Lion of Al-Lat, shattered by IS last year, could be put back together and there was not the widespread looting that had been feared, he said.

"We need to start with the damage in the citadel immediately, because it can't afford all the damage that it has suffered."