[22][23] On the next day, ISIL launched a failed counter-attack following which SAA attacked and imposed full control over Jabal al-Tar and Palmyra Castle.

However, they left behind suicide bombers in the eastern districts of Palmyra, to cover the retreat of the ISIL militants, and to hamper the progress of the Syrian Army.

[30] On 5 March 2017, the Syrian Army captured all hills to the south of the Jazal oil fields, to the northwest of the city of Palmyra.

[32][33][34] On 7 March, the Syrian Army captured Al-Amriyah Mountain and the surrounding hills, securing the fire control over the Palmyra Grain Silos.

[50][51] These advances moved the government closer to resolving its long-standing energy crisis amid reports that ISIL had withdrawn from the Jirah and Sha’er Gas Fields not long after the Syrian Army captured the mountaintops northwest of Palmyra.

[58] On 7 April, the Syrian Army advanced several kilometers along the M-90 highway, south of Palmyra, capturing farms, a quarry, and a racing runway.

[59][60] Three days later, the military captured the ISIL positions in the eastern parts of the Al-Abtar Mountains[61][62] and reportedly reached the Sawwanah Junction, while pushing towards the Khunayfis Phosphate Mines.

[64][65] Amaq News Agency claimed on 14 April that ISIL had killed 11 Syrian soldiers near Sabkha al-Mawah in eastern Palmyra.

[74] ISIL carried out a counterattack on 2 May in the axis between Palmyra silos and Talilah crossroads, with Amaq claiming the group had captured several outposts and had killed 11 soldiers.

[82] They also captured the quarries to the east of al-Shumriyah Mountains, in addition to the Maqla’ Al-Mushairifah Al-Janoubi area, thus imposing fire control over the road linking the villages of Jubab Hamad, Rasm Hamida and Habrah Al-Gharbiyah.

[83] As part of an offensive to clear out both the rebels and ISIL from the southern portion of the Syrian desert, half a dozen fronts were opened by the Army, including south and east of Palmyra.