Islamic State destroys famous monument in Syria’s Palmyra
Islamic State militants have destroyed one of the most famous monuments in the ancient city of Palmyra, the Tetrapylon, and the facade of its Roman Theatre, Syrian antiquities chief Maamoun Abdulkarim told Reuters on Friday.
The Syrian government lost control of Palmyra to Islamic State in December, the second time the jihadist group had overrun the Unesco world heritage site in the six-year-long Syrian conflict.
The Tetrapylon, marking a junction along Palmyra’s grand colonnade, comprises a raised stone platform with matching structures of four columns positioned at each of its corners.
Satellite imagery sent by Abdulkarim to Reuters showed it largely destroyed, with only four of 16 columns still standing and the stone platform apparently covered in rubble.
The imagery also showed extensive damage at the Roman Theatre, with several towering stone structures destroyed on the stage. Just last May, a famous Russian orchestra performed at the theatre after Palmyra was first won back from Islamic State.
Abdulkarim said if Islamic State remained in control of Palmyra “it means more destruction”. He said the destruction took place sometime between December 26 and January 10, according to the satellite imagery of the site.
The head of the United Nations cultural agency said that the destruction of the Tetrapylon and the facade of the Roman Theatre in the Syrian city of Palmyra by Islamic State militants was a “new war crime”.
“This destruction is a new war crime and an immense loss for the Syrian people and for humanity,” Unesco Director General Irina Bokova said in a statement. “This new blow against cultural heritage, just a few hours after Unesco received reports about mass executions in the theatre, shows that cultural cleansing led by violent extremists is seeking to destroy both human lives and historical monuments in order to deprive the Syrian people of its past and its future.”
During its previous spell in control of Palmyra, Islamic State destroyed other monuments there, including its 1,800-year-old monumental arch. Palmyra, known in Arabic as Tadmur, stands at the crossroads of the ancient world.
Islamic State put 12 people to death in Palmyra earlier this week, some of them execution-style in the Roman Theatre. Russia marked the capture of Palmyra from Islamic State by sending the Mariinsky Theatre to perform a surprise concert, highlighting the Kremlin’s role in winning back the city.
The concert, held just over a month after Russian air strikes helped push Islamic State militants out of Palmyra, saw Valery Gergiev, a close associate of President Vladimir Putin, conduct the Mariinsky orchestra.
Islamic State swept into Palmyra again in December when the Syrian army and its allies were focused on dealing a final blow to rebels in the city of Aleppo. Eastern Aleppo fell to the government later that month.
