BEIRUT (AP) – Syrian activists said late Sunday that Islamic State militants have destroyed a nearly 2,000-year-old arch in the ancient city of Palmyra, the latest victim in the group’s campaign to destroy historic sites across the territory it controls in Iraq and Syria.
The Arch of Triumph was one of the most recognizable sites in Palmyra, the central city affectionately known by Syrians as the “Bride of the Desert,” which the IS group seized in May. The monumental arch sat atop the famed colonnaded streets of the ancient city, which linked the Roman Empire to Persia and the East.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the IS group blew up the arch but left the colonnades in place.
An opposition activist who uses the name Khaled al-Homsi also posted on Twitter late Sunday that the militants destroyed the arch. Al-Homsi was a nephew of Khaled al-Asaad, the 81-year-old antiquities scholar and long-time director of the Palmyra site who relatives and witnesses say was beheaded by IS militants in August.
Palmyra’s sprawling ancient complex, which also includes remains of temples to local gods and goddesses, has been under attack from the Islamic State group. The Sunni extremists impose a violent interpretation of Islamic law across a self-declared “caliphate,” declaring such ancient relics promote idolatry and saying they are destroying them as part of their purge of paganism. However, they are also believed to sell off looted antiquities, bringing in significant sums of cash.