The Islamic State jihadist group executed three people in Syria’s ancient city of Palmyra by binding them to three historic columns and blowing them up, a monitoring group said Monday. IS captured Palmyra from government forces in May, and considers such relics as promoting idolatry.
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Since the jihadists seized Palmyra from regime forces in May, they have destroyed multiple sites and historic artefacts, including its celebrated temples of Bel and Baal Shamin as well as several funerary towers.
The Palmyra explosions were the latest method of killing by ISIS militants, known for beheadings, immolation and drowning of prisoners. “We hit it twice”, Davutoglu said.
The YPG, in a statement, said Turkish forces attacked its position three times since Sunday, but said all the incidents were east of the Euphrates.
“Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told Turkish television that Ankara had warned the Syrian Kurds known as the PYD that they should not cross west of the Euphrates River – and after the group did so, Turkish jets struck twice at PYD targets”.
A YPG fighter walks near residents who had fled Tel Abyad, as they re-enter Syria from Turkey after the YPG took control of the area in Syria. “Turkey can not abandon its border, its fate, to any country”.
The prosecutors said information extracted from electronic devices had revealed “crucial information” about the organisation behind the carnage, including the flow of funds to cells in Turkey from its bases in Syria.
A shooting war with the Syrian Kurds would be bound to fuel the conflict between the Turkish state and its Kurdish minority.
October: Turkey says 17 suspected PKK rebels are killed after security officers enforce a military lockdown in the mainly Kurdish southeastern town of Silvan.
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Tensions between Ankara and Washington were raised earlier this month when the USA airdropped a few 50 tons of ammunition to the YPG – ostensibly to help the militia advance south from Tal Abyad to the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa. Last week, a local council in the city declared it part of the Auto-Administration established by the Kurds in northern Syria.
