Islamic State recaptures ancient Syrian city Palmyra, activists say

Islamic State has regained control of Syria's ancient city of Palmyra, activists and a news agency affiliated with the militant group have said.

The reports came amid conflicting information over the fate of the city in central Syria.

IS re-entered Palmyra on Saturday - the first time since they were expelled nine months ago.

Then heavy Russian airstrikes and Syrian army troops appeared to have repelled the push, forcing the militants to retreat to the city's outskirts.

Now, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the militants were back in control.

The AMAQ news agency, which is affiliated with Islamic State, said the group had captured a castle overlooking the city.

Russia's defence ministry had said earlier that its jets had launched 64 strikes and killed more than 300 militants during the operation, backing up the Syrian army.

IS has been advancing on the town for days, gaining control of some oil and gas fields on its outskirts along the way.

It was not clear who controlled the fields now.

The IS push in Palmyra comes days the group in the Iraqi city of Mosul launched a major counterattack that surprised Iraqi soldiers, killing at least 20 and halting their advance.

Iraqi special forces units have entered the eastern outskirts of the largest remaining IS-held city in Iraq, but their advance has been greatly slowed by both a desire to limit civilian casualties and the resilience of the IS fighters.