It has taken the Syrian Armed Forces almost two months to see the outskirts of the ancient city of Palmyra in east Homs; however, after a tug-of-war battle with the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) in the eastern countryside of the province, the Syrian Arab Army’s “Tiger Forces” – alongside the 67th Brigade of the 18th Tank Division – have finally advanced within 8 kilometers of the city’s outskirts.
On Tuesday afternoon, the SAA’s 67th Brigade launched a counter-assault at the town of Al-Bayarat after the militants from ISIS stormed the villages in the vicinity of the Tiyas Military Airbase and the T-4 Pumping Station to the west of Palmyra.