Analyst: Fall of Palmyra, Ramadi Proving US-ISIL Alliance

“The simultaneous fall of Palmyra (also known in Arabic as Tadmor) in Syria with that of Ramadi in Iraq in the presence of the anti-ISIL coalition shows that the US and the ISIL are on the same side,” Abdel Fattah Mohammad told FNA on Wednesday.

He underlined that anyone who looks at the developments of Syria and Iraq from outside surely sees a relationship between the simultaneous collapse of Palmyra and Ramadi.

“After nine months since the beginning of the US-led anti-ISIL coalition’s airstrikes on ISIL positions in Iraq and Syria, the coalition is still incapable of preventing the ISIL advances in both countries because the US is cooperating with the ISIL,” Mohammad said.

On May 17, ISIL Takfiri militants took control of Ramadi, located some 80 miles West of Baghdad after several days of intense fighting.

On May 20, ISIL Takfiri militants control of the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra, also known as Tadmor.

Antiquities officials fear ISIL wants to destroy Palmyra’s pre-Islamic cultural treasures, which include colonnaded streets and ancient citadels.

The city is also strategically located at the crossroads of key highways leading West to Damascus and Homs, and East to Iraq.