Ancient 2000-year-old city of Palmyra in Syria targeted for destruction by ISIS

#ISIS #Palmyra #Syria #WorldHeritage #UNESCO Islamic State terrorists have reportedly moved towards the gates of ancient 2000-year-old city of Palmyra and are believed to have targeted it for destruction. There are fears that this Syrian world heritage site could be in for destruction as the jihadists have already done in Iraq. This has been reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 15 May 2015.

As the ISIS militants overran nearby villages, they executed 26 civilians - 10 of them were beheaded because they were 'collaborating with the regime.' This is what the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) have said.
Irina Bokova, head of the UN's cultural body UNESCO, has requested both the Syrian troops and the extremists to spare Palmyra because it 'represents an irreplaceable treasure for the Syrian people, and the world. … Palmyra must be saved.' She made these comments at a two-day conference in Cairo on protecting the region's archeological sites.
Her request was echoed by Syria's head of antiquities who made an appeal for international action saying IS was less than two kilometers from what remained of one of the most important cultural centers of the ancient world.
Incidentally, UNESCO has described Palmyra as a world heritage site of 'outstanding universal value'. This ancient city was on a caravan route at the crossroads of several civilizations and its temples that are of 1st and 2nd century apart from the colonnaded streets mark a unique blend of Graeco-Roman and Persian influences. (Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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