The Islamic State mines Palmyra, ready to destroy archaeological site
Damascus (AsiaNews / AsiaNews) - The militias of the Islamic State (IS) have placed mines and other types of explosives around the ruins of the ancient city of Palmyra, raising fears for the fate of the archaeological and UNESCO world heritage site, one of the most important in the Middle East. According to reports from the London based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and a network of sources on the ground, in recent days jihadist fighters have placed mines around the Roman town and are ready to blow up the complex.
Last month, IS took control of the archaeological site and the modern part of the city, raising fears of destruction of the area as happened in the past in Iraq during the conquest of Hatra and Nimrud. Images of the with sledge hammers and bulldozers destroying statues, artefacts and architecture dating back to pre-Islamic times and defined by terrorists "symbols of paganism" were seen around the world.
Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Observatory, says that when "we do not know if the militants have mined the area to destroy the ruins or to prevent the forces of the regime [of Damascus] from recapturing the city." In recent days, the Syrian air force has launched a series of raids in the area, killing at least 11 people.
Confirming fears Maamoun Abdulkarim, director general of Museums and Antiquities in Syria, appealed "to the inhabitants of Palmyra, the tribal chiefs, religious leaders and cultural figures to prevent this [destruction] ... and prevent the recurrence of what happened in northern Iraq. " However, he also admits to feeling "very pessimistic and sad" about the fate of the site, visited by at least 150 thousand tourists a year before the war, with its statues, the over one thousand columns and at least 500 graves.
Palmyra, dubbed the "Venice of sand", is one of the most important cultural centers of antiquity. At the time of the Roman Empire it was an important center of distribution of goods, with the desert instead of the sea and camels instead of ships. To date, only a small part of the site has been brought to the surface, many of the exhibits and objects are only partially emerge from the sand or are still covered.
In the context of the jihadist advance, the UNESCO Director General of Irina Bokova expressed "deep concern" about the situation, adding that "fighting is threatening one of the most significant sites of the Middle East, as well as the local civilian population."
Added to this is the strategic location of Palmyra (and Tadmur), along a route linking the capital Damascus with eastern cities, including Deir al-Zour famous for its underground gas fields. If the Islamic state take the region, experts warn, it will be one of its most important strategic and military victories, with far worse consequences than the destruction of the ruins of a World Heritage Site.
More than 3.2 million people have fled Syria with other 7.6 million internally displaced since the start of the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad in 2011. At least 230,000 people have died in the fighting, many of them civilians, especially in 2014. After it first emerged in 2013 in all its brutality, the Islamic State group seized large chunks of Syrian and Iraqi territories last year.
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