Image copyright AFP Image caption Syrian troops retook Palmyra last Sunday 
 
 Syrian troops have found a mass grave containing about 40 bodies in the city of Palmyra following its recapture from the Islamic State (IS) group, state news agency Sana reports. 
 
 The grave containing the bodies of men, women and children was uncovered on the north-eastern edge of the city. 
 
 Some had been beheaded while others had been shot, a military source told AFP. 
 
 Meanwhile fighting between rebels and state forces has erupted south of the city of Aleppo, monitors said. 
 
 The rebels, including the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front, captured strategic territory from the government, according to UK-based activist group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. 
 
 A nationwide "cessation of hostilities" has been in place for over a month but it excludes both the Nusra front and IS. 
 
 Inside the ancient city recaptured from IS 
 
 Recapture of Palmyra tightens noose on IS 
 
 Islamic State group: The full story 
 
 The bodies found in Palmyra have been transferred to a military hospital in the provincial capital Homs. Some have reportedly been identified. 
 
 Among those found, according to the AFP source, were soldiers, members of pro-regime militia and their relatives. Twenty-four of the victims were civilians, including three children, the source added. 
 
 Last Sunday, the Syrian army, backed by Russian forces, recaptured Palmyra and its world-famous complex of ancient ruins, which IS overran in May last year. 
 
 IS militants executed at least 280 people during their occupation of the city, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group. 
 
 They also caused extensive damage to the world-renowned antiquities site. 
 
 Correspondents say the recapture of Palmyra is one of the biggest setbacks for IS since it declared a caliphate across swathes of Syria and Iraq in 2014. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The discovery of mass graves in Palmyra reveals the "human suffering" during the occupation by IS, says Alan Johnston 
 
 The Syrian army says it will use Palmyra - which has a military airport - as a launch pad to expand operations against IS and cut its supply routes. 
 
 Syrian military sources say the army is targeting IS-held towns including al-Qaryatain, south-west of Palmyra, and Sukhnah towards the north-east. 
 
 Russia's six-month air campaign against opponents of President Bashar al-Assad has turned the tide of the five-year civil war in the Syrian leader's favour. ||||| Image copyright AFP/Getty Images 
 
 A video apparently released by the Islamic State group shows 25 men being shot dead in the ancient city of Palmyra, in Syria. 
 
 IS said the men were soldiers captured in the city of Homs. They were shot dead inside Palmyra's amphitheatre. 
 
 Stills from the video showed the killers to be young males, possibly even as young as 13 or 14. 
 
 IS captured Palmyra and the neighbouring modern city, locally known as Tadmur, in late May. 
 
 The video was distributed by accounts known to be linked with Islamic State militants. It is not clear when it was filmed. 
 
 The killings took place on a stage in the amphitheatre in front of a large black IS flag. 
 
 Several hundred men in civilian clothes are filmed sitting on steps watching the shootings. Among them was a young boy. 
 
 In close-up shots of the men waiting to be killed, they appear to have been beaten on the face. 
 
 Days after IS claimed Palmyra, it executed 20 men in the same amphitheatre. 
 
 The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says shootings took place in the amphitheatre on 27 May, but it is not clear if those killings are the ones in the video. 
 
 The video goes on to show the destruction of Tadmur prison, which occurred in late May. 
 
 In May, Mamoun Abdelkarim, Syria's head of antiquities, said: "Using the Roman theatre to execute people proves that these people are against humanity." 
 
 Mr Abdulkarim said most of the museum's antiquities had been transferred to Damascus before IS approached the city. 
 
 Since then, there have been reports that mines have been planted among some of Palmyra's ruins, and there were claims this week that militants destroyed an ancient sculpture outside Palmyra's museum. 
 
 Since capturing the city, IS has also taken control of a military airbase and a notorious prison nearby. 
 
 The ancient ruins are situated in a strategically important area on the road between the capital, Damascus, and the contested eastern city of Deir al-Zour. 
 
 Fighters with IS started claiming vast swathes of Syria and Iraq in 2014, aided in part by the insecurity generated by Syria's civil war. 
 
 More than 230,000 Syrians have died in the war, which began after President Bashar al-Assad's forces tried to put down anti-government protests in March 2011.
– After recapturing the city of Palmyra from ISIS, Syrian troops discovered a mass grave containing the bodies of dozens of men, women, and children who had been decapitated or shot, AFP reports. The city, a UNESCO World Heritage Site known for its ancient ruins, was captured by ISIS last May. According to the BBC, one human rights group estimates that in the months since then ISIS executed at least 280 people. The mass grave found Friday contained 42 bodies, 24 of which were civilians and three of which were children. They were soldiers or supporters of the Assad regime and their relatives. Only some of the bodies have been identified so far. The reclaiming of Palmyra by Syrian troops last Sunday is seen by experts as one of the biggest setbacks for ISIS in two years. But its months in the hands of the terrorist group took a toll beyond the loss of life. The AP reports many of the ancient ruins that once drew tens of thousands of tourists every year were destroyed by ISIS, including the 1,800-year-old Arch of Triumph, two Roman-era temples, and a 13th century citadel. And what remains of the city following ISIS' occupation and Syrian and Russian airstrikes is empty. Residents are too afraid of either violence from the Assad regime or remaining ISIS landmines to return. One Syrian officer says they've dismantled 3,000 mines left by ISIS so far. "They booby-trapped everything, trees, doors, animals," he says.