ISIS militants have launched a drive to recapture the world heritage site of Palmyra. Islamists have cut the road between Homs and Palmyra to disrupt supply routes used by Syrian government forces, according to the London-based organization Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. A professor from the Russian State University for the Humanities, says Moscow could be drawn into a new phase of the Syrian conflict where control over Palmyra will be the main key. The military campaign to save what remains of the world heritage site from Islamists could become protracted, with “unpredictable consequences,” the professor told Russian daily newspaper Kommersant. RBTH reports: “Violent clashes between regime forces and Daesh [the Arabic name for ISIS – Kommersant] are ongoing,” said the organization’s director Rami Abdel Rahman, describing the fighting on the distant approaches to Palmyra as “part of ISIS’s biggest assault since the army recaptured Palmyra with Russian support.” However, according to Kommersant’s source in the Russian General Staff, by mobilizing available resources government troops are managing to control the road between Homs and Palmyra, although fighting is underway to the south of the city (the most recent clash took place near a military air base, 45 miles from Palmyra). “Both [...]