Beirut: Syria’s military command said on Sunday it had taken full control of the city of Palmyra, in a victory it said marked the beginning of the collapse of the Islamic State group.

In a statement read out on Syrian television, it said that the recapture of Palmyra from Islamic State also showed that Syrian government forces and their allies were the only force capable of defeating terrorism in Syria.

It said the army and its allies, backed by Syrian and Russian air forces, would continue their campaign against Islamic State, the Nusra Front ‘and other terrorist groups’. The Syrian government has described all armed factions fighting President Bashar al-Assad as terrorist groups.