The ancient Roman city of Palmyra, northeast of Damascus
Islamic State militants in Syria severely damaged the Bel Temple, considered one of the greatest sites of the ancient world, in a massive explosion Sunday, activists said.
The 2,000-year-old temple was part of the remains of the ancient caravan city of Palmyra in central Syria, seized by IS in May.
The news of the latest destruction at Palmyra came just days after IS released propaganda images purportedly showing militants blowing up another Palmyra temple, the 2,000-year-old Baalshamin dedicated to the Phoenician god of storms and fertilizing rains.
The U.N. cultural agency UNESCO, which has designated Palmyra as a world heritage site, called the destruction of the Baalshamin temple a war crime.
Earlier this month, relatives and witnesses said that IS militants had beheaded Khaled al-Asaad, an 81-year-old antiquities scholar who devoted his life to understanding Palmyra.
The Islamic State group, which has imposed a violent interpretation of Islamic law across its self-declared “caliphate” straddling Syria and Iraq, says such ancient relics promote idolatry.
It already has blown up several sites in neighboring Iraq, and it is also believed to be selling looted antiquities.
A Palmyra resident, who goes by the name of Nasser al-Thaer, said IS militants set off a huge blast at 1:45 p.m. Sunday.
“It is total destruction,” he said of the scene of the explosion. “The bricks and columns are on the ground.”
“It was an explosion the deaf would hear,” he added.
The resident said only the outer wall surrounding the temple remains.
A Syrian official in charge of antiquities said yesterday his government has not been able to determine how much damage the explosion caused the ancient structure.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has a network of activists in Syria, said the temple was damaged. It did not provide details.
Maamoun Abdulkarim, the head of the Antiquities and Museums Department in Damascus, said that “undoubtedly” a large explosion took place near the temple. But he said the extent of the damage remains unclear.
An Islamic State operative told The Associated Press over Skype yesterday that the temple had been destroyed, without elaborating. He spoke on condition of anonymity because members of the group are not allowed to speak to journalists.
Amr al-Azm, a former Syrian government antiquities official who now is a professor at Shawnee State University in Ohio, said he believed a very large amount of explosives was used and the damage to the Temple of Bel was likely extensive. However, he cautioned that information remains scarce.
“This is the most devastating act yet in my opinion. It truly demonstrates ISIS’s ability to act with impunity and the impotence of the international community to stop them,” al-Azm said, using an alternative acronym for the group.
The temple, consecrated to the Semitic god Bel, had been well-preserved and was a source of much pride for Syrians. It was consecrated in 32 A.D.
It stood out among the ruins not far from the colonnades of Palmyra, which is affectionately known by Syrians as the “Bride of the Desert.” Sarah El Deeb, Beirut, AP
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