Islamic State militants have blown up a 2 000-year-old arch in Syria’s ancient city of Palmyra.
The iconic Arch of Triumph is the latest victim in the terror group’s campaign of destruction at the Unesco World Heritage site, which it captured in May.
IS has already destroyed several ancient tower tombs, a temple and the celebrated Lion of Athena statue.
Syrian antiquities director Maamun Abdulkarim warned yesterday: ‘This is a systematic destruction of the city. They want to raze it completely. Every time IS was attacked, they acted like this.’
The monumental arch, built during the Roman era between 193 and 211 AD, was one of the city’s cultural gems.
It was pulverised on Sunday after IS strapped it with explosives.
Experts say IS are using the destruction of historic treasures for propaganda. Charlie Winter, of British think-tank the Quilliam Foundation, said: ‘It’s a fairly low-risk, cheap way for IS to maximise its international infamy.’ He said the latest attack may have been a bid to recapture international attention after Russia began air strikes in the region.
© Daily Mail