ANALYSIS: Palmyra a major blow for IS, but Assad still faces uphill struggle

Palmyra provides Syrian president with the opportunity to strengthen anti-IS credentials, but his power is still based on foreign support

Syrian pro-governement forces gesture next to the Palmyra citadel (AFP)

Alex MacDonald-Tuesday 29 March 2016

There is one universally acknowledged positive to the Syrian army's recapture of Palmyra from the Islamic State group.

Its ancient ruins, which many feared would be destroyed by IS due to their abhorrence of pre-Islamic "idols", are likely now to remain safe as President Bashar al-Assad re-asserts himself as the custodian of Syria's antiquities.

Syrian state TV footage of damage in civilian areas of Palmyra

“The liberation of the historic city is an important achievement and evidence of the efficacy of the strategy adopted by the Syrian army and its allies in the war on terrorism," Assad said on Sunday.

For the inhabitants of Palmyra, however, the recapture of the city by Assad's forces brings no respite.

“Palmyra is not now liberated - it just moved from one tyranny, one enemy control to another," Mohamed Alkhateb, a spokesman for the opposition group Palmyra Coordination, told Middle East Eye.

Many have hailed Palmyra's recapture on Sunday as a major strategic, as well as symbolic, victory for the Syrian government.

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