AKIPRESS.COM - 
Syrian government forces have reached the edge of the ancient city of Palmyra after driving back Islamic State (IS) militants, BBC reported citing officials and activists.
Syria's state news agency said the army and allied militia had taken control of hills overlooking the city - a Unesco World Heritage site.
IS seized the ruins of Palmyra and the adjoining modern town in May.
It subsequently destroyed two 2,000-year-old temples, an arch and funerary towers, drawing global outrage.
The jihadist group, which has also demolished several world-renowned pre-Islamic sites in neighbouring Iraq, believes that such structures are idolatrous.
Unesco, the UN's cultural agency, has condemned the destruction as a war crime.
The state news agency, Sana, reported on Wednesday that troops, backed by pro-government militiamen, had seized high ground to the west and south-west of Palmyra and moved towards the "Palmyra Triangle" road junction after "eliminating" IS militants in the area.
Sana said government jets had also targeted IS convoys on the road between Palmyra and Sukhanah, 60km (37 miles) to the north-east, destroying dozens of vehicles and leaving many militants dead.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group which relies on a network of sources on the ground in Syria, reported earlier on Wednesday that government forces were only 2km from Palmyra's southern outskirts and 5km from its western edge.
The governor of Homs province, Talal Barazi, welcomed the advance and said troops were also closing in on the IS-held town of Qaryatain, 100km to the south-west.
Syrian government forces launched an offensive to retake Palmyra at the start of the month, backed by intensive Russian air strikes.
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