Special to WorldTribune.com

Russian warplanes have attacked Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) positions near the ancient Syrian city of Plamyra.

“Su-25 jets hit a fortified ISIL position in the Tadmur area of Homs province,” Russia’s defense ministry said, using the Arabic name for Palmyra, according to the AFP news agency.

“As a result of a direct strike, a fortification, an underground bunker and anti-aircraft artillery were destroyed.”

Moscow insists the strikes hit close to Palmyra but avoided the city’s historical sites. Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said several strikes hit the city’s historic citadel.

Palmyra activist Khaled al-Homsi also said the air strikes hit the citadel on the western edges of the historical site. “The extent of the damage could not be verified,” he told AFP.

According to reports, ISIL has used the grand amphitheater at Palmyra for executions. One reported said the terror group forced its child members to kill 25 Syrian soldiers at the amphitheater in front of residents of the city.

A report last week said ISIL executed three people in Palmyra by tying them to three historic columns and blowing them up.

In August, jihadists beheaded Palmyra’s 82-year-old former antiquities director.

  ISIL, Russian air strikes targets Syria’s Palmyra region, Su-25 jets, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, WorldTribune.com