Battle for Palmyra Rages on

The battle between the Syrian army and Islamic State for the ancient city of Palmyra raged over the weekend, with both sides reportedly suffering loses.

A Syrian army source told the ARA news agency that more than 100 Syrian soldiers were captured by the Islamists in the suburban areas of Abu al-Fawares and Bayarat on Sunday.

“When I.S. militants pretended to withdraw from the area, the army moved forward towards Palmyra city. However, the terrorist group had planned an ambush for our forces in Abu al-Fawares sub-district, where more than 100 soldiers were taken hostages,” the source told the news agency.

The day before, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that Syrian troops had killed at least 30 Islamic State fighters in battles around the city.

The observatory reported that the clashes came as the army continued its campaign to evict I.S. from Palmyra, located in the eastern countryside of the country’s Homs Province and listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. The extremists overran the city in May.

The U.K.-based observatory also said that 12 Syrian soldiers had been killed in the recent fighting, but did not elaborate.

U.S. Launches new Wave of Airstrikes

The United States continued its intensification of airstrikes against Islamic State over the weekend, launching 16 strikes.

The Combined Joint Task Force leading the air operations said U.S.-led forces conducted 16 airstrikes in Syria and 11 more in Iraq against the Islamists on Saturday.

In Syria, airstrikes carried out using bomber, fighter-attack and drone aircraft were conducted near Hassakeh, Raqqa, Aleppo and Kobani, the statement said.

Malala Inaugurates School for Syrian Refugee Girls

Girls’ education activist and the world’s youngest Nobel Peace laureate Malala Yousafzai inaugurated a secondary school for Syrian refugee girls in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, near the border with Syria.

The new school will serve more than 200 Syrian girls between ages 14 and 18, according to the Malala Fund, Yousafzai’s nonprofit organization, which is supporting the school, NPR reported.

Yousafzai was shot in the head by Taliban gunmen in 2012 but survived and has lived in England ever since.

“I am honored to mark my 18th birthday with the brave and inspiring girls of Syria. I am here on behalf of the 28 million children who are kept from the classroom because of armed conflict. Their courage and dedication to continue their schooling in difficult conditions inspires people around the world and it is our duty to stand by them,” she said.

“On this day, I have a message for the leaders of this country, this region and the world – you are failing the Syrian people, especially Syria’s children. This is a heartbreaking tragedy – the world’s worst refugee crisis in decades.”

Recommended Reads

• Reuters: Why You’ll Always Lose With Drones Alone
• The Washington Post: The Deadly Consequences of Mislabeling Syria’s Revolutionaries
• Telegraph: Chaos in the Middle East Means It’s Time for an Alliance with Iran
• The National: Syria is Caught between Bombs and Butchery
• Al Arabiya: The Feared ‘Catastrophic Success’ in Syria
• Global Research: Washington’s ‘New Middle East’ Stalls, the Resistance Rises