Coalition planes destroy ISIL tanks in Palmyra

Coalition aircraft destroyed 14 Islamic State tanks and an anti-aircraft system that the militants had captured from the Syrian army in recent fighting in the ancient city of Palmyra, the U.S.-led coalition announced Friday.

The massive daylight airstrike, which was conducted Thursday, involved 16 coalition aircraft that dropped 22 bombs or other munitions on 22 targets, the coalition said in a statement.

The Islamic State seized the heavy weapons and other equipment when they recaptured Palmyra, an archeological gem in central Syria, from Syrian forces earlier this week. The equipment was taken from the Tiyas Military Airfield, a Syrian military post near Palmyra.

Syrian government forces routed by ISIL in Palmyra

The airstrikes highlight the complexity of the war in Syria, where a Russian-backed Syrian military is fighting a range of forces, including U.S.-backed rebels.

Washington has accused Russia of mostly ignoring the Islamic State while it backs the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The U.S.-led military coalition is attempting to avoid Syrian forces and Russia while it pursues the Islamic State, which has set up a number of strongholds in war-torn Syria.

Why extremists destroy ancient treasures

But those competing interests sometimes overlap. Any strike on Islamic State militants in Palmyra will bolster the Assad regime, which will almost certainly attempt to take the city back.

In a press conference on Wednesday, Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, the commander of the coalition, said the coalition would target equipment captured by the militants if the Russians didn’t do so first.

Russian and U.S. aircraft generally fly over different parts of the country and Palmyra has been an area where the Syrians and Russians are operating. The two countries don’t coordinate their military operations, but advise each other on where they are flying to avoid mishaps.

“It’s not a division of labor or the country or anything like that,” Townsend said. “It's just where people are.”

Townsend said if the Russians didn’t take action to target the equipment captured by the Islamic State militants the coalition would. “We will do what we need to do to defend ourselves,” he said.

Last year Palmyra fell under Islamic State control and earlier this year Russian-backed Syrian government retook the city, driving militants out.

The city is home to an array of archeological treasures, many of which have been intentionally destroyed by militants.

The city fell a second time to the Islamic State, which is also called ISIS or ISIL, while Russia and the Syrian military launched a major offensive in Aleppo, a city in northwestern Syria.  Russia and Syria “took their eye off the ball in Palmyra because they were so focused on Aleppo and they didn't properly secure their gains,” Townsend said.

Townsend said he expects the Syrians and Russia to attempt to retake Palmyra.