Syria forces retake Palmyra, while ISIS warns of new terror attacks

President Assad hailed the recapture of city as an “important achievement in the war of terrorism” – New ISIS video says Brussels attack was just a taste of what’s to come

Syrian forces recaptured Palmyra from ISIS on Sunday, months after the city fell to the Islamic State terrorists, state media reported.

Military sources said the Syrian army now has “full control” of the city. It had been gaining ground for several days, supported by Russian air strikes, BBC reported.

President Assad has hailed the recapture of Palmyra as an “important achievement in the war of terrorism” and said this showed the success of the army’s strategy.

CCTV’s journalist was at Palmyra castle, Fakhr-al-Din, while the battle was still in progress.

In the meantime, the Islamic State has posted a new video on Internet claiming responsibility for the terrorist attacks in Brussels, while threatening for a new bloody attack in Europe.

In this video Belgian Hicham Chaib is shown threatening for new terrorist attacks and executing a man. According to reports, Chaib is the head of ISIS “religious police” and has taken part in many beheadings and tortures in Syria.

Chaib is heard saying that Brussels attack was just a taste of what’s to come. Then speaking in Dutch, he states: “This is a message to the people of Belgium, the Belgian government, Europe, the whole world and the alliance that fights against the Islamic state. As long as you keep bombing Muslims with F-16, we will kill you”.

He continues saying that “nobody has learnt any lessons from what happened in Paris and the attacks in Brussels come from your own actions”.

At the end of the video, he executes a man saying: “The battle will continue in the heart of your country”.