palmyra is 20 kilometers from damascus. it is key because it would mean retaking the airport and several weapons depots and oil and gas facilities too. joining us live from gaziantep is our correspondent. it's not quite a done deal. there must be some skirmishes going on there. >> reporter: absolutely. in the last over an hour ago we were told by i.s.i.l. their media group that a dual suicide attack was carried out from the group against the gathering for the syrian army to the east of the palmyra, an area where we don't know what the kind of suicide attack. whether they were walking or driving in cars loaded with explosive. we don't have word yet in regards to casualties, but in will be a pattern. we also know that the syrian army is here in a few areas. i.s.i.l. is strategies always when they leave somewhere, defeated from somewhere, they leave behind a lot of explosive devices or booby traps. also i've seen footage from the syrian state television and it is from palmyra and you can clearly hear some sound of explosions a

>>> syrian forces reclaim the ancient town of palmyra. you're watching al jazeera. coming up in the next half hour: >>> protestors are pushed out of central brussels. police use water cannons to disperse them. we'll have a life update. >>> refugee protest at the greece-macedonia border demanding it be reopened to them. >>> one of the world's great art museums reinventing itself to be more contemporary and modern. that story, coming up. >>> syrian president bashar al assad's army has taken full control of the ancient town of palmyra. government forces have advanced into isil held territory over the last days. there has been heavy fighting in historic center and residential areas. the syrian army backed by russian air power has captured the citadel with the unesco world heritage site. the group retaliate by launching a suicide attack on army positions. we have this update from the circumstancish-syrian border. >>> the observatory for human rights confirmed that the syrian army is in control of the town, however said the group was fighting in the eastern parts of the c

but were in the hotel quarters of palmyra. >> okay.nk you. >>> al jazeera has learned the next round of syrian talks are start in geneva on the 9th or 10th of april. the latest negotiations are being adjourned. james bayes sent this update from geneva. >> reporter: these talks have been underway for almost two weeks, and on the key issue, political transition no progress at all, the syrian government has not properly engaged the opposition says on that issue. now the u.n. special envoy will announce a next date for these talks. we are told it is likely to be the 9th or 10th of april. in that puts the syrian government under pressure. also putting them under pressure, i think, is this paper, that staffan de mistura is giving to both sides. interesting the title of the paper, essential principles of a political solution in syria. almost exactly the same title the syrian government gave at the beginning of these talks. what is key is what has been agreed by the international community. the idea of a transitional government leading syria a

it is not only the syrian army inside palmyra palmyra but they are backed by militias. fighters from iraq, lebanon, and other countries. we also are getting a third claim that i.s.i.l. are still there. they are putting some fight in a number of areas. as you mentioned, the situation is foggy, but according to all the reports, they seem to suggest that palmyra has fallen into the hands of the government >>> the importance of the citadel is important. the west views palmyra through the prism of the artefacts that have been destroyed. it was at home a particularly nasty prison run by the regime and when i.s.i.l. took it, they, in effect, opened the doors. >> reporter: yes. absolutely. that happened last year. hundreds of prisoners were there when they took it. the syrian government forces withdrew from palmyra and that was very interesting then. also the syrian army or soldiers took with them some of the most important artefacts with them. some claim that there were some robbing, some stealing. we are not sure for certain, but that was the claim then t as you mentioned, pa

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palmyra. hello, you're watching al jazeera live from doha. hundreds of refugees heading for the greek macedonian boarder in the hope that it opens. >> italian police arrest a man in the bomb attacks. plus, a boost for bernie sanders - winning three caucuses in hawaii, washington and alaska. >>> syria's state media and some groups are saying that the army has taken control of palmyra. government forces have been advancing into the isil-held territory, there has been heavy fighting in the historic center and residential areas. the syrian army captured the castle. which is a u.n.e.s.c.o. world heritage site. it fell to isil in may. the armed group is not part of the cessation of hostilities, palmyra is apparent not only because of its history, but because of its location. the city is on the highway linking the capital with isil healed deir az zor near the boarder. the capture means the government can stop isil fighters moving to and from iraq. joining us live from near the turkish syrian boarder. let's clarify what happened. some groups are sayi

that would not make you feel safe if palmyra is your home. >> palmyra's population has been under siege over the [indistinct] the fast few days have seen a large number of people [indistinct] understandably the people will say that they are ex-static about getting rid of i.s.i.l., but the past few days were very difficult for the residents of palmyra. they suffered from the wrath of i.s.i.l. when they first moved into the city in may 2015. they were subjected to air strikes by the syrian government and then the russians and now they're out of i.s.i.l. control. people have witnessed very difficult times in the last few days. they're happy that they are not under i.s.i.l. control any more >>> do you get the feeling that the syrian forces plan to coalesce what they've been doing around the city, hang on to it and keep it for the sake of keeping it or are they going to carry on taking the fight to i.s.i.l. we're looking at some of the recent, more recent pictures and we're seeing what looks like russian air cover. it looks like russian helicopters. if they have russian air cover, they must

palmyra.ith our guides from the nature conservancy, we headed south for a rare and exclusive look. going to paradise. the u.s. military used this as a base in world war ii and conveniently left a runway. the nature conservancy has a research station on palmyra and most of the time the only people here, a skeleton crew of four. dr. stephanie weir is a senior scientist with the nature conservancy. >> this is a place that is teeming with life. it is on land, on sea, in the air. there are thousands of birds nesting here. baby sharks swimming at our doorsteps. you know, tripping over crabs. >> palmyra is a kind of petri dish of possibility. especially impressive because the entire atoll was flattened in world war ii to make room for 2,000 u.s. troops. yet here birds thrive, free to mate and raise their young because rats, a non-native species, were eradicated. a formidable undertaking. how important is this habitat to these birds? >> well, the birds need a habitat that is free of predators. there a

in the hotel quarters of palmyra. think from what we understand here at least, government forces are still not in the center of palmyra. >> okay. hoda thank you for that update from moscow. >>> al jazeera has learned that the next round of syria talks will start in geneva on the 9th or 10th of april. the latest negotiations are being adjourned after almost two weeks of discussions james bayes joining us with an update. >> reporter: these talks have been underway for almost two weeks, and on the key issue, political transition, no progress at all. the syrian government has not properly engaged the opposition says on that issue. now the u.n. special envoy will announce a next date for these talks. we are told it is likely to be the 9th or 10th of april. that puts the syrian government under pressure, because they wanted to delay the start of these talks until after parliamentary elections. also putting them under pressure, i think is this paper that stephane daffan de mistura giving to both sides. the title is almost ex

>> palmyra is indeed under the control of the government forces. this news is confirmed first by the local television, the state television, also by an activist group. however, isil have some fighters there, because over the last two hours or so, they launched an attack, two saturday car bombs hit a gathering of syrian army soldiers. we don't know the casualties of the attack, but that's an indication that isil remains somewhere in that area, or perhaps maybe outside of palmyra. the government is confirming it's military spokesman is confirming that they are indeed in charge and have secured palmyra. >> take us through the significance of the recapture of palmyra particularly for the syrian government forces. >> it's basically it's location. to the east of palmyra, you have the area mostly controlled by ice ail and another stronghold. in iraq, where isil is also holding territories, crossing that route is key for the government to inflict on isil and to the north to try to cut that route for isil toward raqqa north of palmyra. pal meyer radio itsel

there's about 1,000 miles of water between hawaii and palmyra.aded a plane with gear, and with our guides from the nature conner conservancy we headed out. >> going to paradise. >> the u.s. military used as a base in world war ii and conveniently left a runway. the nature conservancy has a research station on palmyra and most of the time the only people here a skeleton crew of four. dr. stephmy weir is a senior scientist with the nature conservancy. >> this is a place teaming with life. it's on land, in the sea, in the air. there are thousands of birds nesting here, baby sharks swimming at our doorsteps. you know, tripping over crabs. >> reporter: palmyra is a petri dish of happen when you remove the things that harm an environment, especially impressive because the entire atoll was flattened in world war ii to make room for 2,000 u.s. troops. yet here, birds thrive, free to mate and raise their young because rats and nonnative species were eradicated. a formidable undertaking led by dr. alex wegman how important is the habitat to them. >> there

palmyra fell to i.s.i.l. in may last year and the group is not part of the agreed cessation of hostilities in syria. palmyra is important not only because of its history, but also because of its geographical location. it is located on the strategic highway linking the highway damascus with i.s.i.l. held deir as zour. its capture means i.s.i.l. can be stopped moved towards iraq. assuming that they've got this right and it has fallen to the damascus forces, is there anything left in palmyra worth fighting over? >> reporter: no, it's not. what we're hearing from the activists groups is that on the eastern side of palmyra there is some clashes, but they're describing it not as fierce as it was over the last 24 or 48 hours. so pretty much i think the syrian army according to the pictures we showed are in control in at least in a few areas that they shared with reporters. another activist group have told us that this morning the fighting was heavy but then it all died down. it was a bit quiet. that is another occas

the significance of palmyra is that, first it is located in the center of syria to the north of palmyraave raqqa. raqqa is an isil strong hold. so you have a road between palmyra and raqqa and that is key for isil, and that's why the government wants to cut that road off. and to the east, you have deir ez-zor, most of that province is under isil control. so again, there is a road from palmyra to deir ez-zor, so that is a supply route for isil, and that's why i think the government wants to cut that off. not only the government, but i think their allies the russians. because remember, russia when it entered this war -- or started this military campaign, it declared its target was to target terrorism in syria. this is what they say, of course. >> and we are nominally in a cessation of hostilities period. paint us a picture of what is going on in syria under this umbrella of cessation of hostilities. >> reporter: well, the cessation of hostilities has surprising to everyone, contrary to their expectations has largely held. there are serious violations, but when you compare them to the leve

recapture of palmyra is a symbolic and a strategic victory. bashar al-assad taking control of palmyra means government forces also control the surrounding desert stretching to iraqi border to the south and it opens up access to the i.s.i.l. stronghold of dazur and the group's self declared capitol of raqqa and more from mohamed. >> reporter: a significant advance against i.s.i.l. in syria. according to state media government forces backed by russian air power have recaptured the ancient city of palmyra from i.s.i.l. after days of intense fighting. while there has been no independent confirmation the syrian observatory for human rights said that by sunday morning the bulk of i.s.i.l. forces in the city had retreated. >> translator: following a series of large-scale operations our units operating on the eastern country side of homs backed by the syrian and russian airforces fulfilled their mission successfully in the city of palmyra. they gained control over the surrounding mountains and ridges and killed large numbers of i.s.i.l. tear rests and

palmyra is between damascus and dermazur. the government of syrian president bashar al assad has of late made advances ins rebel held territory. recapturing palmyra opens up routes to the surrounding areas. >>> police have surrounded protestors in brussels. it's just gone past 5:00 p.m. now earlier, a solidarity march called the march against fear had been postponed because of security concerns. it had been planned to mark tuesday's bombings which killed 28 people along with three attackers and it injured hundreds of others, as well. let's go live now to jacki role lands who joins us live from brussels. earlier we saw scuffles between police and protestors. what do we know of the protestors that tried to advance into the square? >>> well, the protestors, it was a group of a few hundred people. they appeared to be football hooligans, right wing extremists, a lot of them were dreads in black and had their faces concealed. very much not espousing the kind of sentiments expressed for the most part in the square. here there are me

but recapturing palmyra had significance beyond preserving the prized ancient city. it's an important strategic gain because from palmyra the military can broaden its offensive against jihadist forces to attack another key city held by i.s. the army is even vowing to move a, regarded as their headquarters in syria. the russian air force would be behind all this. it has been in action in recent months. the combination of russian airstrikes and reenergized syrian forces on the ground is putting president assad and the kremlin at the forefront of the battle against islamic state in this country. western leaders are not complaining. katty: we wait to see what has happened to those incredible antiquities. for more on the battle, i spoke with a veteran diplomat whose new book is titled "the envoy: my journey through a turbulent world." let's start with what we see in palmyra, which is president assad seem to make gains in syria. how significant is it to his long-term survival? >> it is significant what is happening on the ground. it seems isis is losing territory in iraq a

but the greatest treasure lost was the ancient city of palmyra, a world heritage site. this week, the assad dictatorship retook palmyra from isis, the bad guys taking it from the worse guys, if you will. elizabeth palmer reached palmyra today, the first american journalist to enter the sea. here's what she found. >> reporter: after 10 months under isis control, who would have believed palmyra could look so good? but up close, there are monumental gaps. for 2,000 years, a roman triumphal arch spanned the entrance. now the arch is gone, brought down by isis explosives, and the syrian army tells us we can't venture any further into the ruins because the whole place is laced with mines and dynamite. so is the town next to the ruins. a group has come here today to honor the syrian soldiers who defeated isis in battle, but no one's going to be moving back into these houses any time soon. for isis, palmyra was a strategic prize and an opportunity to taunt the world with videos that showed fighters destroying priceless treasures and a mass execution in the roman amphitheater. b

isil has held palmyra since may destroying structures and artifacts. their destruction led to international outrage. let's now cross over to the turkey syrian bored every. give us clarification and detail on what exactly is happening in palmyra and what is behind the syrian government gains there. >> according to the syrian state televisions, they showed pictures of places where members of the syrian army inside palmyra. the government for the last three days sent force trying to advance toward palmyra. act visits inside palmyra have told us that he denied basically that he was coming from the syrian television saying the fighting is outside and that outside of the city, and that the isil fighters are still positioned in palmyra, but described the fighting as very fierce. now why palmyra is important, of course always the historical aspect are sight--sites. to the east of it is it borders iraq and most of little under isil control. i think it's key both for the government of syrian president bashar al assad as well as the russians to achieve something

and his father loved the palmyra museum, his life work now wrecked. it's a wonder this building is still standing considering the amount of artillery and russian air strikes that were necessary to take back the town from isis. everywhere, there's more isis desecration, a whole room full of delicate stone heads, their faces hacked away. and among palmyra's greatest losses, the temple of belle, all but the arch blown to bits. and yet, there's hope. mohamed al asad is already thinking of reconstruction. where would you even start? where would you even start, mohamed? "the experts can do it," he says. "just give them a few years." and, of course, an end to this war, which at the moment has just moved a few miles down the road. but, scott, the whole time we were in palmyra, it sounded as if the war was right with us. there were controlled explosions every few minute. the syrian army de-mining the town, and a team of russian explosive experts is expected tomorrow. >> pelley: elizabeth palmer with the news breaking report for us tonight inside syria. liz, th

isis occupied palmyra for most of the past year. extremists have been driven out and triumph for bashar al assad. the u.n. praising the liberation of palmyra and calling on assad to restore it. cnn's arwa damon is tracking the latest from istanbul. the question is how tenuous is the syrian government grip on the ancient city. >> reporter: as long as they have the russians backing them, it seems the syrian regime should be able to keep control of palmyra and they're making no qualms about trying to hide reality it is because of the russian strikes they were able to retake it. hundreds of them reportedly taking place with russian strikes in the days leading up to the syrian forces along with the militias being able to move in and recapture the city and the ruins of palmyra, unesco heritage sites. some of which have been damaged and destroyed by isis. this is a strategic gain for the regime, but not one that is necessarily going to lead to the imminent defeat of isis. they still control plenty in syria and iraq. it is a highly symbolic

and syrian government forces are closing in on palmyra. it is shelling parts of isil-held residential areas. its recapture would be a significant victory for president assad's forces. mohammed jamjoom now reports. >> reporter: these pictures broadcast on syrian state television are said to show a significant advance. syrian government forces fighting to recapture the historic city of palmyra from isil. state media also showed planes and helicopters flying overhead, as soldiers approached on the ground. the syrian observatory for human rights says many civilians fled palmyra after isil told them via loud speakers that the fighting was drawing near. but isil is resisting claims it is losing control of palmyra. moving quickly to release this video that it says shows its fighters driving around parts of the city as syrian government troops advance. some analysts believe the syrian government advance will be a morale booster. >> given all of the bad news coming out of europe and the focus on isis as a terrorist organization. this focuses on isi

the troops are said to be in palmyra. do we know if they are close to actually being able to say they have recaptured the city? i understand we have had some technical issues. i hope you can hear me now. do you know how close the troops are to recapturing palmyra? >> certain military says they have entered the town of how mira -- palmyra and they are within sight of the ancient ruins. may have been approaching from the last month -- they have been approaching in the last month from the desert. they have cut isis supply lines in the last week or so. they are closer than they have been at any point in the offensive. the town has been booby-trapped. our great fear is that the ruins themselves have been booby-trapped. it does not seem that isis is going to cut and run from this prize. they are going to stand and fight for it. catherine n.: why is palmyra such an important city to both the syrian government and the islamic state group? >> it became emblematic of the isis takeover. the syrian army's inability to do anything abo

>> palmyra is like the location of palmyra is highly important because it's like 90 kilometers from a major city, as well as a little bit more from damascus and it leads to the isil stronghold. palmyra gives the regime a strategic depth that's really protecting the main highway and five cities. i think that we are going into some tactical operational gains for master plan. this master plan leads later to about two major cities ins iraq. the mosul and in syria, the raqqa. >> when we talk about raqqa, there are claims circulating within the past three or four hours saying we will be able to push on as far as raqqa. is that really a probability? >> it is a probability, however it's too much difficult now. if you are going to raqqa, you are going to need, you know, the air power and we know what happens with the russians. more over, you need the personnel. you need lot of personnel and more than 100,000 troops and the regime doesn't have this kind of number. moreover, when you want to take raqqa, we've seen what happened at are a mad did i, so to take it, it is going to be like kobane and

isil took over palmyra, a u.n.e.s.c.o. world heritage site and began a campaign of destroying a site and staging mass excuses. palmyra used to attract tens of thousands of tourists before the conflict began. the city is not known for the beautiful ruins, a prison complex is there. for decades, it was one of the feared detention centers, known for housing political prisoners. thousands were reportedly tortured there. after taking over the city, isil blew up the gaol, empty at the time, destroying a symbol of government control. palmyra is between damascus and daraa sore. the location making it important. russia withdrew forces from syria, the government of syrian president bashar al-assad had, of late, made advances in rebel held territory. >> recapturing palmyra opens up an advance of forces to the eastern desert, stretching to the iraqi boarder to the south, and i.s.i.l.'s boarder to the east >>> ancient palmyra - it was feared it could be devastated because of what isil could do. it's not as bad as they might have feared

also ahead - pushing into palmyra. syrian forces say they have entered a city held by isil >>> an outcry against the prison inside given to mel -- radovan mladovic >>> belgium police arrested six people in brussels during raids in response to tuesday's attacks. the operation took place in and around city neighbourhoods. two suspects on the run after bombings killed 31 people and hundreds more. paul brennan has more from brussels. >> there has been a series of raids throughout the weeks. obviously the brussels bomb attacks intensifies the pressure on security and the police and this thursday we had a series of raids. there have been several argument operations conducted in brussels. sky skyabic and yetta. we were not sure whether they were outside and apprehended by law enforcement. or whether they'd been tain to the prosecutor's office and then arrested. and one at a house search in brussels. these are armed searchers. >>> remember, we are looking for two suspects understanding from the brussels bomb attacks. one perso

also coming up, the battle for palmyra. government forces say they've taken control of three parts of the city. as brussels continues to mourn its dead, belgium police charge three suspects with terror offenses. and why the rival of traditional music in cambodia is a very thrill act. >> hello, identitiers from the islamic state in iraq and the levant killed 18 iraqi soldiers in an attack on "n" one of the country's largest military bases. ten bombers stormed the air base northwest of baghdad. eight attackers were reportedly killed, and the other two blew themselves up. well, here's what we know about the al-assad air force base. it's located in anbar province 120 kilometers from ramadi. hundreds of u.s. military advisers and trainers use the base to support iraqi troops. the u.s. military said that there were no attacks in or near the u.s. side of the base. the forces launched an offensive last week to retake anbar province. 60% to 70% of the province is controlled by isil. we have more from the iraqi capital of baghdad. >>

isil took over palmyra, a world heritage site last may. and began a campaign of destroying ancient sites and staging mass executions. palmyra used to attract tins of thousands of tourists before the conflict began. but the city isn't known for its beautiful ruins. for decades. it was one of syria's feared detention centers. known for housing political prisoners. thousands of opponents were tortured there. after overtaking the city. isil blew up the gaol, which was empty at the time destroying government control. >> it is between damascus and deir az zor. the location making it important for the syrian armed forces and its allies. russia withdrew most of the forces from syria. the government of syrian president bashar al-assad had a late and made advances in rebel held territory. recapturing palmyra opens up an advance of government forces to the eastern desert. stretching to the iraqi boarder to the suth, and i.s.i.l.'s heartlands to the east. >> syrian officials say they are surprised some of them are not as bad as they might be. the dron

that palmyra was very important, not only militarily, but culturally. some of the monuments are still there, the stones are still there, but it can be rebuilt only to a certain point. it will never be like before. >> the museum houses ancient artifacts from syria, including this unique piece that revealed a tax system at this important hub along the silk road. after the dust settles, a new army will invade palmyra, one made of archeologists, but as much as they can restore the beauty of palmyra, isil's lust for killing and blood will always be linked to its history. >>> no charges yet for the man accused of highjacking a plane from egypt to cyprus using a fake suicide belt has appeared in court. officials described him as psychologically unstable. the motive behind the highjacking is still unclear. all the passengers and crew are now back in egypt. >>> the u.n.'s children's fund says six children are killed or injured in yemen every day in the past year. almost 1,000 children have died and more than 1,300 wounded. nearly 10 million children require huma

people are called to leave palmyra.lier in the month they start he the campaign to regain palmyra which fell to i.s.i.l. last year. the importance of palmyra, aside from the historical aspect and the archaeological side, to the north is raqqa and that's a i.s.i.l. strong hold. to the east is are deir ez zor, so the road between them, is tremendous key for i.s.i.l. . >> the move the retake palmyra comes days after ar russia pulled its forces out of syria. u.n. envoy says he's aiming at restarting peace talks next month. but the biggest idea is a political transition from the assad regime to a diplomatically based government. james bays from geneva. >> reporter: these talks have been underway for element two weeks and the key issue, no progress at all, the syrian government has not properly engaged the opposition says on that issue. now u.n. special envoy will announce a next date for these talks. we're told it's likely to be the 9th or 10th of april. that puts the syrian government under pressure because they wanted to d

the beauty of palmyra is stunning.ian archaeologists say they can rehabilitate the site in five years if they get the money. and if there can be peace. the current calm is more fragile than karveg on stones. signs of the i.s. presence, a jihadi must have slept here. the graffiti says, keep out, by order of the islamic state. the devastation at the temple is shocking. this is what the sacred sanctuary of the temple of bell used to look like. tens of thousands of tourists blocked here to see it. this is what it looks like now, just rubble, a ruin, completely destroyed. islamic state militants packed it with explosives and blew it up. it's almost impossible to imagine how it could be restored. the stones are shattered and some archaeologists think it would not only be futile but wrong to try and rebuild exactly as it was. >> the identity of palmyra can't be the same anymore. it's true it is a world heritage site but now it has witnessed massacres. 400 people have been killed inside the roman theater. people will not look

palmyra had been under i.s.i.l. control since may. mohammed jamjoom has more. >> these photographs are said to show a significant advance. syrian government forces fighting to regain the historic city of palmyra. >>> the syrian observatory for human rights said many civilians fled palmyra after i.s.i.l. told them via loudspeakers that the fighting was drawing near. but i.s.i.l. denies it's losing control of palmyra. syrian government troops advance. some analysts believe that syrian government advance will be a morale booster. >> given all the bad news coming out of europe and the focus on i.s.i.s. as a terrorist organization, this focuses on i.s.i.s. as a failed state at this point in time, given fact that syria and russia seem to be work together, and diploma channels of geneva, this is a significant point for i.s.i.s, not the end but the beginning of the end. >> reporter: palmyra includes a unesco world heritage site. palmyra is situated on a desert highway in central syria strategically located between the government held capital

for ten months, isis occupied palmyra. archaeologists feared before they left they would destroy the rest. but incredibly, barring hidden bombs and boobytraps. today it appears safe and intact. of course, it is going to take a few days jeff before the syrian army has a chance to examine the site and declare it secure before archaeologists can go in and do inventory. >> liz palmer, thank you. pope francis denounced what he called "blind terrorism" in his easter message today. he remembered terror victims not just in brussels but around the world. security was extra tight for tens of thousands who gathered in st. peter's square. >>> in campaign 2016, bernie sanders won three times last night. he took all of yesterday's caucuses by a wide margin. in hawaii, alaska, and washington state. dent in hillary clinton's lead in the delegate count. she remains far ahead. >>> terrorism a major topic on the campaign trail this week. but some proposals made on the stump, how to fight terror, aren't going over welling with police who woul

russia played a key role in saving what is left of palmyra. very much like palmyra, parts of it were once flatted, when lenningrad was bombed out duringet siege. 872 days, one of the longest and most destructive in history. like isis now, the nazis in world war ii wanted to see st. petersburg reduce to rubble. many of its landmarks were looted and vandalized, yet russia restored it back to its glorious past. petrosky said it could be fundamental in healing pal mire after of all, st. peter'sberg. >> we're very happy, because people understand that palmyra was very important. not only militarily, but culturally. some of the monuments are still there, and the stones are still there, but it can be rebuilt only to a certain point. it will never be like before. >> the hermitage museum already houses several ancient artifacts from syria, including this unique piece, that reveals the tax system, along with this important hall. after the dust settles, a new army will invade palmyra, but >> accused of plotting a coup against her. la russa is accused of fraud. her government is coming under pre

. >>> russia offers to help restore palmyra half syrian forces say they have taken over from isis. >>manding government reform in iraq. ♪ ♪ >>> a suicide bomber has killed at least 65 people, mostly women and children in a park in the pakistani city of los angeles lt happened during the easter holiday celebration a group linked to the taliban says it's behind the latest attack on religious minorities in pakistan. we have a report. >> reporter: an explosion at a children's park in the heart of lahore. this was the latest taliban attack to claim lives in pakistan. a food cart vendor described the moment of the blast. >> translator: i was cooking a burger and suddenly i heard an explosion so big. i couldn't understand what was happening. >> reporter: it was the weekend and the park was full of families. as a result, most of the dead and injured women and children. witnesses reported bodies strewn everywhere. with emergency services stretched and a number of casualties so high. people used taxis and rickshaws to move the injured. lahore's hospitals are high alert. these kind of attacks ar

palmyra is a nation site. >> reporter: russia's archeological interest and expertise in palmyra is realthis hermitage collection of artifacts from the city, like these stones inscribed with ancient greek scripts is one of the most important outside syria, even more so now that so much of palmyra has been destroyed by islamic state. >> you can see them on the pyramid -- >> reporter: you see them as a hologram. >> yes, in the middle. >> reporter: and those at the museums are building holographic models of the palmyra buildings breathing life, they say, into the ancient city. >> the main point is the reconstructions that are now shown in the holograms are real reconstruction with the real sizes and texture of how it used to be before the explosions. >> reporter: so that can be useful restoring the site? >> exactly. >> reporter: only once palmyra is secure, say museum officials, will a russian team be sent to assess the archeological damage. it could be years before the cultural vandalism of isis is undone. matthew chance, cnn, st. petersburg. >> restoration under way, but sadly, it can nev

forces loyal to bashar al assad recaptured palmyra. elizabeth palmer has more on this. >> for three weeks, the syrian army has been advancing on palymera to drive isis out. today the army declared victory. soldiers found the residential areas of the town littered with isis signs and banners. but all eyes were on the city's world famous ancient ruins. syria's head of antiquities was glued to the tv in damascus watching for news. some of the destruction he already knows about. of their fighters hacking at 2,000-year-old treasures. hundreds more were saved in the nick of time, dr. kareem told me by brave archaeologist whose drove them to safety as isis moved in. >> you look at palmyra for us, the capital of the syrian civilization. how i can't imagine as director general of antiquities -- in syria without palmyra. it is our icon. >> reporter: once isis was in control of palmyra it set about staging acts of barberism it knew would cause outrage -- a mass execution in the roman amphitheater. videotape of fighters packing explosives into pal

. >>> well isil also losing ground in palmyra. tv says the army is now inside the ancient city and is shelling parts of isil-held drens -- residential areas. its recapturing would be a significant victory for the forces of president bashar al-assad. mohammed jamjoom with the latest. >> reporter: these pictures are said to show a significant advance. syrian government forces fighting to recapture the historic city of palmyra from isil. state media also showed planes and helicopters flying over head, as soldiers approached on the ground. the syrian observatory for human rights says many civilians fled palmyra after isil said the fighting was drawing near. this video it says shows its fighters driving around parts of the city as syrian government troops advance. some analysts believe the syrian government advance will be a morale booster. >> given all of the bad news coming out of europe, this focuses attention on isis has a military organization and as a state, and it is a failed state at this time. even in terms of the diplomatic c

how important is the recapture of palmyra? is it largely symbolic or is thereny strategic value in it? >> i think is strategic value. anytime you take a significant city like this. but we are far from the end of this. what we are starting to see in this campaign, both in iraq, where there's real progress moving up to mosul, and in the syrian side of this. you are seeing isis is not ten feet tall. we have to remember, however, that the retaking of palmyra is not retaken by the moderate syrian opposition. it is retaken by the apostic regime of assad. it is a mix picture. but anything that knocks down the islamic state is a good overall. >> it's interesting, this could not have been done without russia air strikes, without the syrian military, isis was not defeated by syrian rebels. it was defeated by the coalition and the bashar al-assad reseem and only because the russian air strikes were pounding away. >> as a reminder, a couple of weeks ago, mr. putin said we are taking our aircraft and army out of syria. remember that, and s

positions in the ancient city of palmyra. month long cessation of hostilities have saved around 3,000 lives. belgian police may not be hunting one but actually two fugitives in connection with tuesday'tuesday's attacks on tho in brussels. >>> israeli soldiers said they shot and killed two palestine yants who tried tianwho tried t. according to knowledge video, v. >> other soldiers stand around, then suddenly, one soldier takes aim and appears to shoot the injured palestinian in the head. video recorded by the palestinian rights group, hebron is a microcosm of the intense conflibt. conflict. palestinians complain of constant harassment from the settlers. many incidents in the last six months of unrest have taken place in hebron. around 40 palestinians have been shot dead after allegedly stabbing israelis. videos of this one will only strengthen the belief of palestinians that israeli soldiers shoot to kill. no questions asked. breebreach of army values. a military investigation is underway. stefanie dekker, al jazeera, west je

syrian forces fight their way to the gates of the ancient city of palmyra.which appears to show israeli

who liberated palmyra? afghan, iraqi, shiite militias dominated by the iranian, trained, equipped, and deployed by the iranians with the support of russian airpower and as joe said, we have some contracted to the russians in syria which means we are building a new order. not just in syria but in the middle east, in which this russian/iranian alliance and this network of militias that the iranians have put together which is now operating not just in syria but also in iraq, also in lebanon, also in yemen and so forth, is an acceptable partner for the united states and for the west. it also means we completely misread what's happening -- what's happening in europe. the refugee crisis in europe and all of the tensions that it creates in europe and in nato is a consequence of the actions of this russian/iranian/syrian alliance but somehow popularly, we are associates in our minds with isis rather than the actual perpetrators, this is the russian/iranian/syrian alliance. and even in the right wing now in europe,

been announcing for a few days that soon the syrian government forces will be able to enter palmyra., that news broke out to us a few hours ago. however, it is very possible that when john kerry met with sergei fedorov earlier today they -- the two men already knew that piece of information. probably john kerry would want to see more involvement from the russians this the sense they would like to see russia put its weight again putting pressure on president bashar al-assad. >> in moscow. cou courtney is live in the studio to talk about this who has the upper hand? >> russia had the upper hand for quite a while and could say throughout the whole syrian war. a long time former cold war ally with syria with a strong relationship and u.s. had to react to what russia does. many years going into this as the war went on syria russia was part of the vetoing u.n. security resolutions but right now the u.n. and russia are really working together, it's quite extraordinary. they need each other. secretary of state kerry has met many, many times with sergei fedorov. what you will see here now as

want to get some more insight on syria's recapture of palmyra.ncona, good to talk with you. i want to get your take from a military perspective. what do you think is the significance of recapture of palmyra and what could this mean for the battle against isis? >> i think it's an important step in the battle against isis. and as arwa says, palmyra was not as defended as maybe raqqah and mosul will be. those will be bigger battles. but this is a first step. and it was important for the syrians to take that step. but i think vladimir putin was exactly right. the russian air power was key to this. if it hadn't been for the russian air force providing air support to the syrians on the ground, they would not have been able to take palmyra back as easily as they did. and it was a pretty quick operation. that said, the syrians have to keep pushing. they've got to go up toward raqqah in the north but they've also got to go out there to the east to der assor. mostly surrounded by isis. the syrians have to keep pushing and that's going to require additional