THE Syrian army said yesterday that it had shot down seven small explosive-packed drones near the Israeli border.

A Syrian Arab Army source told the national Sana news agency that the sophisticated radio-controlled aircraft, about 50cm across, carried surveillance cameras and plastic explosive charges.

They were brought down in Daraa province, which borders the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights to the west and Jordan to the south.

The army source said that the drones were probably launched from the Busr al-Harir or al-Lajat areas to target strategic sites near the city of Ezraa.

Nine similar drones were shot down near Ezraa on October 11, prompting speculation over their country of origin.

Elsewhere, the Syrian air force bombed a group of Islamic State (Isis) vehicles in the village of al-Sheikh Ahmad, east of the besieged city of Aleppo, while other targets were hit to the south.

Further air strikes hit fortified Isis positions in al-Baiyarat, six miles west of the historic city of Palmyra, also destroying armed vehicles.

Western media carried reports yesterday from a Palmyra-based source known as Nasser al-Thaer that Isis had tied three captives to ancient Roman columns in the Unesco world heritage site and blown them up.

If true, the bizarre execution was the latest act of inhuman brutality and philistine vandalism by the terrorist group, which has destroyed ancient relics in Palmyra and elsewhere.

Meanwhile, Iran said it had sent more revolutionary guard military advisers to Syria.