1.媒體來源:
半島媒體
2.完整新聞標題:
ISIL gains ground with capture of Syria's Palmyra
3.完整新聞內文:
Doha, Qatar - The Islamic State of Syria and the Levant (ISIL) has captured Syria's ancient city of Palmyra, giving them control of almost half of the country, according to a monitoring group.
Located in central Homs province and in the heart of Syria, Palmyra lies 210km northeast of Damascus in desert that stretches to the Iraqi frontier to the east.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Thursday that ISIL now controls approximately 95,000sq km of land in nine out of 14 provinces since they declared their alleged caliphate - which puts them in control of almost half of the country.
The Syrian government previously lost the town of Bosra in Deraa province to ISIL in March, which had also been declared by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
In April, ISIL managed to capture and control most of Yarmouk refugee camp, which is 8km away from the centre of Damascus.
Yarmouk is inhabited by Palestinian refugees.
Activists in Palmyra, who requested anonymity, told Al Jazeera that ISIL took full control of the city on Wednesday evening and people are trying to escape, with many left stranded on the streets.
"ISIL have infiltrated the city overnight. Power is down and we barely have any electricity or water. There is fear among residents and we do not know what to expect next," one activist said.
"The Syrian regime have bombed several targets for ISIL since last night, but air strikes also targeted two mosques in the city - Othman Bin Affan and al-Iman mosques, several people have been killed and others injured.
ISIL has captured Palmyra's prison, weapon stores, government buildings, the local museum and central bank.
Prisoners were evacuated days beforehand and relocated to Damascus and Homs.
ISIL captured the towns of al-Sekhna and al-Amirya.
No non-governmental organisations are operating in Palmyra and locals are in desperate need of aid and medical supplies.
"Hospitals and clinics are being bombed too. There are not enough medical supplies or doctors to treat the injured."
Activists and journalists working at the Palmyra Media Centre made it clear to Al Jazeera that they are incapable of leaving their homes.
Nasser, a journalist in Palmyra, told Al Jazeera that residents in the city could not leave and government forces offered no way out.
"There are almost 170,000 people here, including 50,000 internally displaced people from Homs and Der Ezzor," he said.
"ISIL is hated by residents here and labelled terrorists. ISIL will not treat us any different than those elsewhere in areas they control. This is a new siege."
At least 462 people were killed since ISIL's offensive began on Palmyra on May 13, the observatory reported.
ISIL now control over the vast majority of the gas and oil fields in Syria and were able to capture two gas fields around Palmyra since they launched their attack on Palmyra, the Syrian Observatory reported, leaving the only government-held gas fields in the suburbs of Homs and al-Hasakah out of its control.
Apart from being a historical and World Heritage site that dates back to the 1st and 2nd century AD, capturing Palmyra means ISIL have control over areas that stretch to the Syrian-Iraqi border.
ISIL previously looted and destroyed artefacts in Iraq, and have reportedly destroyed historic temples and statues in areas it controls in Syria and Iraq.
Officials say they have also looted and sold artefacts to fund their group.
Syrian state TV said the army retreated after they secured the evacuation of most residents in Palmyra to save them from ISIL "brutality", acknowledging that ISIL entered the city in large numbers.
Maamoun Abdulkareem, director-general of Museums and Antiquities in Syria, said on Wednesday that ISIL's attack on Palmyra is "revenge on Syrian society and civilisation".
"We hoped the international community wouldn't fail to defend Palmyra, but we didn't see any actual reaction from them," Abdulkareem said.
Hundreds of statues and ancient artefacts from Palmyra's museum have already been transferred out of the city, he said.
卡達消息：根據觀察團體指出：ISIL已經席捲敘利亞古城Palmyra。ISIL因此已經控制近半敘利亞。
Palmyra位處Homs省以及敘利亞的中央，距大馬士革東北方210公里。Palmyra在東側與伊拉克接軌的沙漠區。
英國的敘利亞人權觀察組織於週五報導：自ISIL宣佈伊斯蘭統治起，現在已經控制敘利亞約95,000平方公里土地，14個省中的9個省。
四月，ISIL企圖攻取與控制大部分的Yarmouk難民營。Yarmouk距大馬士革中央8公里，是巴勒斯坦難民所在地。
在Palmyra的記者Nasser告訴半島媒體：城內的居民無路可逃，因為政府堵死出口。「近170,000百姓在城內，包括從Homs與Der Ezzor逃難來的50,000人」。
4.完整新聞連結 (或短網址):
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/05/isil-expands-syria-territory-palmyra-capture-150521133817603.html
https://tinyurl.com/okmkxcc
心得：
(1) 如原版其中一位網友所述：
"Exactly,ISIS is tool for US and Zionist subversion of the region and it does not take a rocket scientist to figure why the "mighty US air-farce" which supposedly destroyed crazy Saddam's million man military in 48 hours can't bomb a few thousand savage terrorists with no air defence capability to hell in a few hours?"
拙譯：「ISIL是米國CIA與慕沙德（Mossad）的傀儡。理由：米國有能力在48小時內征服伊拉克百萬大軍，卻無法制止沒有空軍的ISIL，邏輯不通！」
(2)ISIL的前身是利比亞叛軍，利比亞叛軍是北約武裝的暴力極端穆斯林。北約的目的是除掉威脅西方白人在非洲的非法經濟特權。（這一個事實，以後有空，再提出證據。）
(3)自ISIL登上新聞起，迄今為止，其宣傳口號是：「建立純伊斯蘭國！」但是令人費解的是：ISIL自始至終只攻擊已經是伊斯蘭忠實信徒的伊拉克與敘利亞，對隔壁百分之百不信阿拉、屠殺阿拉子民、自己的穆斯林兄弟姊妹的異教徒