ISIS controls roughly half of Syria after capture of Palmyra

The Islamic State on Thursday fortified its hold on Palmyra, seizing a prison and airport while leaving behind a trail of decapitated bodies in the Syrian city it captured one day prior.

After taking over the city, ISIS now controls around half of Syria, according to The New York Times. Palmyra is home to 2,000-year-old ruins that observers fear ISIS will soon destroy and loot.

The fall of Palmyra came days after ISIS seized Ramadi from Iraqi troops, though President Obama, in an interview with The Atlantic, dubbed the losses merely "a tactical setback."

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