BEIRUT (Reuters) - Islamic State controls more than half of Syria's territory after its westwards advance into the central city of Palmyra, a group monitoring the war said on Thursday.
The militant group, which already controlled wide tracts of land in Syria's north and east, captured the ancient city late on Wednesday, the first time it has seized a large population center directly from Syrian pro-government forces.
The areas it holds are mostly sparsely inhabited. Syria's main cities, including the capital Damascus, are located on its western flank along the border with Lebanon and the coastline and have been the priority for the Syrian military.
Islamic State fighters in Syria entered the ancient ruins of Palmyra after taking complete control of the central city, but there are no reports so far of any destruction of antiquities, according to the monitoring group.
The offshoot of al Qaeda has taken control of the city's military air base and prison after storming them on Wednesday, Rami Abdulrahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said by telephone.
Islamic State said in a statement posted by followers on Twitter that it was in full charge of the city, including the military installations, and that the retreating pro-government forces had left behind a large number of their dead.
Clashes since Wednesday had killed at least 100 pro-government fighters, said Abdulrahman, who bases his information on a network of sources on the ground.
(Reporting by Sylvia Westall; editing by John Stonestreet)
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