Control of portions of Ramadi, Iraq continue to flip-flop between Iraq and Daesh/ISIS; Meanwhile, th
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[quote]Fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group have[B] withdrawn from the main government building in the Iraqi city of Ramadi, a day after the group raised its black flag over the building in the capital of Anbar province.[/B]
The city's mayor and tribal leader said air strikes by the US-led coalition on Saturday forced the armed group to retreat, leaving the buildings booby trapped or on fire, the officials said. Their reports could not be confirmed.
The withdrawal of the fighters comes a day after they seized the heavily fortified complex, [B]the loss of which provincial officials blamed on a lack of support from the Iraqi government.[/B]
"For months we were complaining and telling the Security Ministries that there was no coordination," Hikmat Suleiman, the spokesman for Anbar's governor, told Al Jazeera, adding that[B] the military ignored requests for much needed weapons.[/B]
A coalition of pro-government Sunni tribesmen and Iraqi security forces are trying to wrestle control of the city, backed by US-led coalition airpower.[/quote]
[url]http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/05/isil-pulls-key-areas-iraq-ramadi-150516164239848.html[/url]
Shia Baghdad apparently would rather let Daesh overrun Ramadi and Anbar than arm friendly Sunnis.
[quote]Fighters belonging to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) have advanced on Syria's ancient city of Palmyra, one of the Middle East's most famous UNESCO heritage sites, with fierce clashes taking place close to the city's historic citadel.
Photos circulating on social media sites on Saturday appeared to[B] show intense clashes near the 13th century citadel of Fakhr-al-Din al-Ma'ani[/B] as ISIL fighters engaged the Syrian military.
Talal Barazi, the governor of central Homs province, where the city is located, said on Friday that the "army has sent reinforcements and it is bombing the [ISIL] positions from the air".
Palmyra, a 2,000-year-old desert oasis, is believed to be [B]home to some 100,000 people[/B], including displaced Syrians who fled there after their home towns were engulfed in violence.
The city is also home to the notorious Tadmor prison, where extensive human rights abuses, torture and summary executions have taken place
Irina Bokova, the head of the UN's cultural body UNESCO, called on Syrian troops and ISIL to spare the city, saying it "represents an irreplaceable treasure for the Syrian people and the world".
[B]"Palmyra must be saved," Bokova said at a two-day conference in Cairo on protecting the region's archaeological sites.[/B]
Bokova said it was important to work "against extremism, against this strategy of eradicating ... our collective memory."
Nicknamed [B]"the pearl of the desert", UNESCO has described Palmyra a heritage site of "outstanding universal value".[/B]
The historical city stood on a caravan route at the crossroads of several civilisations, and its first and [B]second century temples and colonnaded streets house a series of old and beautifully decorated tombs.[/B]
However the ancient city, which has previously been a frontline in the four-year-long Syrian conflict, has already been deeply affected by the conflict.
One of its masterpieces, [B]the Temple of Baal, was damaged by artillery exchanges[/B] prompting UNESCO to include it in a list of World Heritage sites in danger.[/quote]
[url]http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/05/isil-seizes-parts-famed-castle-syria-palmyra-150516052303945.html[/url]
Not only does this threaten many historical buildings through battle and extremist hatred at ancient stuff, but one of Daesh's lucrative finances include black market selling of (ironically) ancient artifacts. Though it should be stressed that there are roughly 100k people living there that are in greater danger.
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