Islamic militants have reportedly destroyed the Arch of Triumph which is a major monument in the 2,000-year-old Roman city of Palmyra.
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The monument was the triple arch built by the Romans to celebrate a victory over the Persians, which bore ancient inscriptions and stood at the entrance to a grand colonnade.
The militants have carried out a sustained campaign of destruction against heritage sites in areas under their control in Syria and Iraq.
A former antiquities official in Syria said the Islamic State is “systematically destroying the main features of the site of Palmyra” and lamented the inability of the global community to prevent the devastation. “They want to raze it completely”, Abdulkarim told AFP.
The picture taken on January 13, 2009 shows an aerial view of a part of the world-renowned ancient city of Palmyra.
Before the Syrian war, around 150,000 tourists visited Palmyra every year.
‘This is a systematic destruction of the city. The temple consisted of a central shrine within a colonnaded courtyard with a large gateway, within a complex that has other ruins, including an amphitheater and a few tombs.
Their actions have garnered concerns and criticism from several global organizations, including the United Nations heritage agency (UNESCO), which condemned the destruction as an “intolerable crime against civilization”.
In the last week of September, UNESCO announced an global initiative with the aim of providing enhanced protection to cultural heritage across the world targeted by terrorists and illicit traffickers.
Since seizing Palmyra earlier this year, ISIS militants have destroyed a number of monuments, including the Temple of Baal Shamin and the Temple of Bel. “ISIS has destroyed it”, he said.
‘We are living through a catastrophe. The arch was once one of the city’s most recognizable sites.
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There are two choices, Abduilkarim said: Sit and watch and lose the city, or the Syrian army advances quickly with the support of the worldwide forces and retakes Palmyra.
