Syria’s Ancient Palmyra under ’ISIL’ Terrorist Threat

Local Editor

"ISIL" terrorists took control of the Syrian city of Palmyra on Wednesday, a monitor and activists said, sparking renewed fears over its historic treasures.

"The situation is very bad," Syrian antiquities director Mamoun Abdulkarim said by telephone.

"If only five members of "ISIL" go into the ancient buildings, they'll destroy everything," he added, calling for international action to save the city.

Palmyra's UNESCO world heritage site ruins, including ancient temples and colonnaded streets, are in the city's southwest.

Hundreds of statues and ancient artefacts from Palmyra's museum have already been transferred out of the city, Abdulkarim said, but many others -- including massive tombs - could not be moved.

It was the second time "ISIL" has overrun northern Palmyra, after it seized the same neighborhoods on Saturday but held them for less than 24 hours.
"People are very afraid of what will happen, because "ISIL" has the capability to get to the heart of Palmyra," said Khaled al-Homsi, an activist in the city.
He said terrified residents were staying at home and that government forces were "on the defensive."

He acknowledged the terrorists had infiltrated northern neighborhoods and said they were engaged in "street fighting" with the Syrian army.

"ISIL" began its offensive on the ancient city on May 13, seizing a nearby town and two gas fields, and leaving more than 350 people dead.

Antiquities officials fear "ISIL" wants to destroy Palmyra's pre-Islamic cultural treasures, which include colonnaded streets and ancient citadels.

The city is also strategically located at the crossroads of key highways leading west to Damascus and Homs, and east to Iraq.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team