Governor of Syria's Homs says Islamic State has captured Palmyra

REUTERS - The governor of the Homs province said on state television on Sunday that Islamic State had captured the ancient city of Palmyra on Sunday and the army

was fighting to regain control.

In the government's first official admission that Palmyra had fallen once again to the militants, Talal Barazi was quoted on Ikhbariyah TV as saying the army had pulled out of the city.

"The army is using all means to prevent the terrorists from staying in Palmyra," he was quoted as saying, hours after the militant group and a Britain-based monitoring group said the militants had full control of the city in eastern Syria's Homs.

REUTERS