英语文摘:US Supports Offensive to Retake Anbar

Syrian activists said the Islamic State-held town of Palmyra was quiet a day after a series of deadly Syrian government air raids that killed 15 people, including a child and two women, in and around the city. The raids came after the government told the AP that Islamic State fighters have killed more than 400 state employees, soldiers and pro-government gunmen since capturing the town last week.

Maamoun Abdulkarim, Syria's antiquities chief, said Tuesday the historical ruins at Palmyra, home to a UNESCO World Heritage site, had been unharmed since the Islamic State group seized it from state control last week. However, he said he still feared the jihadist group would blow up ancient ruins, including tombs and the Temple of Bel, which would be viewed as idolatrous in its puritanical vision of Islam.

Also Tuesday, a video released by the pro-Islamic State Aamaq News Agency, media arm of the Islamic State group, purportedly shows the archaeological ruins of Palmyra undamaged but with black smoke billowing behind the ruins.

Reuters could not independently verify the video source.