DAMASCUS, Syria -- Syrian TV showed what it said was Syrian government forces pushing into the ancient city of Palmyra, which fell to the Islamic State extremist group in May, and in Iraq, a military spokesman announced the start of a long-awaited operation to recapture the militant-held northern city of Mosul.
The extremist group has been losing ground in Syria and Iraq for months under a stepped-up campaign of U.S.-led and Russian airstrikes, as well as ground assaults by multiple forces in each country.
The retaking of Palmyra -- a UNESCO world heritage site -- would be a significant victory for the Syrian government.
The advance on Palmyra came after government forces, backed by Russian airstrikes, managed to capture several hills and high ground around the town this week.
On Thursday, Syrian state TV broadcast footage of a reporter alongside the Syrian military, speaking live from the entrance of Palmyra and saying that as of midday, the fighting was concentrated near the famed archaeological site on the southwestern edge of the town. Cracks of gunfire and explosions echoed as the reporter spoke.
By nightfall, intense fighting was still taking place on the outskirts. Turkey-based activist Osama al-Khatib, who is originally from Palmyra, denied that Syrian troops had entered the town, and said the video seen on Syrian state TV was taken about 3 miles from Palmyra.
Earlier in the day, Gov. Talal Barazi said from the nearby city of Homs that the Syrian army was clearing roads leading into the town of mines and explosives.
"We might witness in the next 48 hours an overwhelming victory in Palmyra," Barazi said, adding that "the army is advancing in a precise and organized way to protect what is possible of monuments and archaeological sites."
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Syrian troops and Shiite militiamen helping them on the ground in the attempt to penetrate the city's limits were facing tough resistance from Islamic State extremists.
The Observatory, which monitors the Syrian conflict through a network of activists inside the country, said the Islamic State lost more than 200 militants since the government campaign to retake Palmyra began 17 days ago. It did not have figures for government losses.
The Islamic State instructed residents to leave the city Wednesday, according to a Palmyra resident who asked not to be named. The city was mostly empty Thursday except for Islamic State fighters who were reported to be laying mines in houses ahead of the advancing army.
Many of those who left sought refuge in Islamic State-controlled cities in the country's north and east, including Deir el-Zour, which also is being contested between the extremist group and government forces, according to opposition media activists.
The fall of Palmyra to Islamic State militants last year had raised concerns worldwide, and the destruction the extremists subsequently embarked upon sparked alarm and made international headlines.
Known as the "bride of the desert," Palmyra had attracted tens of thousands of tourists to Syria every year.
But Islamic State militants destroyed many of the city's Roman-era relics, including the 2,000-year-old Temple of Bel and the Arch of Triumph, and also killed dozens of captive Syrian soldiers and dissidents in public slayings at the town's grand Roman theater and other ruins.
Besides blowing up priceless archaeological treasures, the Islamic State demolished the city's Tadmur prison, where thousands of Syrian government opponents had been imprisoned and tortured over the years.
The advance on Palmyra comes against the backdrop of Syrian peace talks underway in Geneva between representative of the Damascus government and the Western-backed opposition. The talks, which have been boosted by a Russia-U.S.-brokered cease-fire that has mostly held since late February, were to adjourn Thursday -- without having achieved any apparent breakthroughs.
Meanwhile, in Iraq, government forces pushed Islamic State fighters out of several villages outside the town of Makhmour, southeast of Mosul -- a move that Iraqi and coalition officials cast as the start of an operation to retake the strategic city. Government forces later hoisted the Iraqi flag there, according to the spokesman for the Joint Military Command, Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasool.
Operating out of a small outpost nearby, U.S. Marines provided artillery and targeting support for Iraqi troops. A senior U.S. official said the Marines fired illumination rounds to help the Iraqi forces locate extremist fighters and also fired artillery rounds in support of the operation
American fighter jets also participated in the operation, launching multiple airstrikes on at least two locations, hitting enemy rocket and mortar positions, the official said.
U.S. military officials on Monday confirmed the creation of the Marine outpost, dubbed Fire Base Bell. It is the first such base established by the U.S. since it returned forces to Iraq in 2014. But the officials said the nearly 200 Marines are there only to provide security for Iraqi forces and U.S. advisers at the nearby Iraqi base in Makhmour.
Regarding plans for a Mosul offensive, Army Col. Steve Warren, a spokesman for the U.S. military headquarters in Baghdad, said in a telephone interview that an Iraqi military buildup was still underway in the area.
"We announced several months ago that we had begun shaping operations for the eventual liberation of Mosul," Warren said. Thursday's "smaller ground operation conducted by the Iraqis is part of those shaping operations."
Information for this article was contributed by Philip Issa, Bassem Mroue, Matthew Lee, Sagar Meghani, Lolita C. Baldor and Robert Burns of The Associated Press.
A Section on 03/25/2016