SYRIA - At least 400 killed by ISIL in Palmyra

Syrian state television has said at least 400 people, mostly women and children, have been killed by self-proclaimed Islamic State fighters in Palmyra. The reports have not been independently confirmed. However the information is consistent with accounts from activists who say the jihadists have been executing people since capturing the ancient city. Comments on social media said hundreds of bodies – believed to be those of government supporters – were lying in the streets. Meanwhile the Syrian military is also battling separate rebel forces from the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front in the northern Idlib province. State TV showed what it said were wounded soldiers freed after a siege at a hospital was broken.