After a lightning advance across the desert in which they overran government forces in ferocious fighting in which 110 combatants were killed, the jihadists were within two kilometres (a little more than a mile) of the ruins, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
"Palmyra is under threat," said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman.
"ISIL has taken all the army posts between Al-Sukhnah and Palmyra" in its drive towards the oasis town from its stronghold in the Euphrates valley to the east, he added.
UNESCO describes Palmyra as a heritage site of "outstanding universal value". It contains the monumental ruins of a great city that was one of the most important cultural centres of the ancient world.
The threat to its well-preserved 1st and 2nd Century temples and colonnaded streets comes as an international conference is under way in Cairo to address the destruction already wreaked by ISIL on the ancient sites of Nimrud and Hatra in Iraq.
AFP
[hurriyetdailynews.com]
14/5/15
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- Outcry as Islamic State bulldozers 'wreck' Nimrud, Iraq...
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The destruction of historic artefacts in Iraq by Islamic State (IS) militants is a war crime, the head of the UN agency for culture, Unesco, has said...
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Ancient Palmyra ‘under threat’, ISIS militants approach UNESCO site...
ReplyDeleteIslamic State militants clashed with Syrian troops within two kilometers of ancient Palmyra, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Thursday. There’s a risk they will run rampant over the landmark UNESCO site.
“ISIS terrorists infiltrated al-Sikhneh and many regions in east Palmyra where units of the army clashed with them and foiled their attacks from many directions,” Homs governor Talal Barazi told the SANA news agency.
Having defeated government forces in fierce fighting that took the lives of 110 combatants, the militants appeared to be just within walking distance of the ruins, according to the monitoring group. There are fears they will cause similar destruction to that wreaked in Iraq earlier in the year.
"Palmyra is under threat," warned Rami Abdel Rahman, the Observatory director. "IS has taken all the army posts between Al-Sukhnah and Palmyra," moving from its stronghold in the Euphrates valley to the east, he added.
The remains of the ancient caravan city of Palmyra stand in the middle of the desolate Tadmorean Desert in Syria. UNESCO describes Palmyra as a landmark of "outstanding universal value," an "oasis in the Syrian desert" northeast of Damascus. Palmyra harbors the ruins of a great city that was once one of the world's key cultural hubs.
"From the 1st to the 2nd century, the art and architecture of Palmyra, standing at the crossroads of several civilizations, married Greco-Roman techniques with local traditions and Persian influences."............http://rt.com/news/258609-palmyra-threat-isis-clash/
14/5/15
Syrie: les jihadistes de l'EI exécutent 26 civils près de Palmyre...
ReplyDeleteLes jihadistes du groupe État Islamique (EI), qui se vantent d'avoir détruit des sites antiques en Irak, menaçaient jeudi Palmyre, un joyau antique dans le désert syrien inscrit au Patrimoine mondial de l'Humanité de l'Unesco. Selon une ONG, l'EI a exécuté 26 civils, dont 10 par décapitation, dans des villages à la lisière de l'antique cité....rtbf.be
14/5/15