Militants from the Islamic State set off explosions at a temple in the ancient ruins of Palmyra in Syria,
activists and government officials said on Sunday, continuing a pattern
of destruction that they have visited upon historical sites across the
territory they control there and in Iraq.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights,
an activist and monitoring group based in Britain, said Sunday in a
statement that Islamic State fighters detonated “a large quantity of
explosives” that they had arranged around the Temple of Baalshamin, one
of the most grand and well-preserved structures in the sprawling complex
of ruins. A government official told reporters that it was heavily
damaged by the blast.
The
temple stood “dozens of meters” away from a Roman amphitheater where
the Islamic State held a mass execution, killing 25 prisoners, in a
video released last month, the activist group said. The entire ancient
city of Palmyra is a Unesco World Heritage site.
Maamoun
Abdul-Karim, the head of Syria’s Directorate of Antiquities and
Museums, confirmed the activists’ account to Reuters, although the two
accounts differed on when the temple was destroyed. The Syrian
Observatory said the destruction took place last month, while Dr.
Abdul-Karim said the militants bombed it on Sunday. ISIS Blows Up Ancient Temple at Syria’s Palmyra Ruins - The New York Times
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