DUSHANBE, May 21, 2015, Asia-Plus – International media outlets report Islamic State (IS) militants seized control of the majority of the Syrian city of Palmyra on May 20, marking the second significant strategic gain for the group in the past week and leaving one of the region’s most renowned archaeological sites in peril.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said there were no reports yet of any destruction of artefacts.
The militants had taken control of the nearby airport, prison and intelligence HQ after government forces pulled out of the area, the monitoring group said.
IS has previously demolished ancient sites in Iraq that pre-date Islam.
The BBC says acute international concern over Palmyra might actually spur the jihadists on to make destroying it a priority, since they delight in challenging and horrifying world opinion.
The ancient ruins are situated in a strategically important area on the road between the capital, Damascus, and the contested eastern city of Deir al-Zour.
Palmyra is also close to oil and gas fields which the Syrian government use to generate electricity for areas under its control in the west of the country.
Syrian state media said pro-government forces had been pulled out of Tadmur, the modern settlement next to Palmyra after “assuring the evacuation” of most of its inhabitants.
The town”s population would normally number around 70,000, but it has recently been swollen by an influx of people displaced from other combat areas.
The BBC says there was effectively nothing to stop the militants entering the ruins following the collapse of the government forces.
If there were Islamist militants in the captured prison, they may now have been recruited by IS.
The Syrian Observatory reported that more than 100 pro-government troops were killed in overnight clashes around Palmyra.
Syria”s head of antiquities, Maamoun Abdul Karim, said on May 20 that hundreds of Palmyra”s statues have been moved to safety but that large monuments could not be transferred.
“This is the entire world”s battle,” Mr. Abdul Karim warned.
He reportedly called on the US-led military coalition against IS to prevent the group destroying the ancient site. However, it says it does not coordinate its actions with the Syrian government.
Rising out of the desert, Palmyra contains the monumental ruins of a great city that was one of the most important cultural centers of the ancient world, according to UNESCO, the UN”s cultural agency.
