Russia’s air force has struck the area around the Islamic State-held (Isis) ancient city of Palmyra, the defence ministry has said, as Moscow continued its bombing campaign in Syria.



“Su-25 jets hit a fortified Isis position in the Tadmur area of Homs province,” Moscow’s defence ministry said, using the Arabic name for Palmyra. “As a result of a direct strike, a fortification, an underground bunker and anti-aircraft artillery were destroyed.”

It appeared to be the first time Russia confirmed a strike close to the Unesco world heritage site, after Moscow denied Syrian state television claims that it hit the ancient city in early October.

Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, also said Russian planes had targeted Palmyra on Monday. Several strikes hit the city’s historic citadel, he said, but gave no further details.

Khaled al-Homsi, an activist from the city, also reported Russian strikes on the citadel on the western edges of the site. “The extent of the damage could not be verified,” he added.

Russia did not reveal when the strikes took place, but said its jets had struck more than 237 targets in Syria over the past two days.