SYRIAN troops swept the newly liberated city of Palmyra for Islamic State (Isis) boobytraps yesterday as the extent of harm to its ancient treasures became apparent.

Russian head of general staff Valery Gerasimov said his country would send engineers and bomb-disposal robots to help de-mining efforts at the Unesco world heritage site.

Syrian antiquities chief Maamoun Abdulkarim said it would take five years to repair the damage wreaked by the Isis philistines, but “we were expecting the worst,” he said. “But the landscape, in general, is in good shape.”