Palmyra Offensive
2015 CE.
Shown on the map at 34.560°, 38.267°.
The Palmyra offensive of May 2015 was a military operation launched during the Syrian Civil War by the Islamic State (IS) on May 13–26, 2015, in an attempt to capture the government-held Tadmur District of the Homs Governorate, including the administrative centre of Tadmur, known in English as Palmyra. The ruins and ancient monuments of Palmyra, which lie on the south-western fringe of the modern city, have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1980. The ruins were part of a desert oasis that was one of the most significant cultural centers of the ancient world, linking the civilizations of Persia, India, China with the Roman Empire through trade. The offensive was one of the largest offensives launched by ISIL, the largest one conducted by ISIL in Syria since the 2014 Eastern Syria offensive, with the result of the offensive increasing ISIL's control of Syria to at least 50%.
Text from the Wikipedia article Palmyra offensive (May 2015), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.