ISIS Destroys Another Precious Historical Site, This One in Palmyra

Islamic State militants on Sunday blew up the ancient temple of Baal Shamin in the UNESCO-listed Syrian city of Palmyra, an official said, the latest in a series of cultural relics to be destroyed by the jihadist group. Famed for well-preserved Greco-Roman ruins, Palmyra was seized from government forces in May, fuelling fears the IS jihadists might destroy its priceless heritage as it had done in other parts of Syria and Iraq. ISIS' destruction of art in Iraq's Mosul Museum generated a lot of outrage. Was there an ideological reason for the raid or was it vandalism? Until Sunday, most of Palmyra’s most famous sites had been left intact, though there were reports IS had mined them and the group reportedly destroyed a famous statue of a lion outside the city’s museum.

More here.

See also: 'ISIS Beheads Elderly Ex-Antiquities Chief in Syria’s Palmyra'.