IS controls more than half of Syria

THE Islamic State group now controls more than half of Syria, comprising 95,000 square kilometres and nine provinces.

The Islamic State group now controls more than half of Syria, a rights group says.

ISLAMIC State jihadists have taken control of more than 50 per cent of Syrian territories after seizing most of the country's central desert surrounding the historic city of Palmyra, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

THE NGO reported on Thursday that IS dominates 95,000 square kilometres of Syria and is present in nine provinces: Homs, al-Raqqa, Deir al-Zour, al-Hasakah, Hama, Aleppo, Damascus, Damascus countryside (Reef Damashq), and Sueida.