Demining operations begin in Palmyra: Russia
MOSCOW/DAMASCUS: Syrian forces have begun to demine the ancient city of Palmyra which was captured this week with the support of Russian airpower, Russia’s military said on Friday.
“The inspection of buildings and structures in the city is ongoing,” senior commander Sergei Rudskoi told journalists.
“Syrian deminers who were trained by Russian specialists at the training centre in Aleppo have begun to neutralise mines and explosive objects which were left by the terrorists,” he said, adding that Russian experts will soon join the efforts.
Russia used both planes and Ka52 helicopters to back the ground offensive on Palmyra, Rudskoi said.
“To conserve historic heritage that was not destroyed by the ISIL terrorists, there were no strikes in the vicinity of historical monuments of ancient Palmyra,” he said.
Palmyra, an oasis city in central Syria, has traded hands several times during the six-year civil war and become a symbol of wanton destruction by the IS group militants of priceless historical landmarks that have Unesco status.
The militants first seized the city in May 2015 but were driven out in March 2016 and proceeded to recapture Palmyra in December when the Syrian government focused on rebel-held east Aleppo.
Less damage than feared: Syrian antiquities chief says damage to Palymra may be less than earlier believed.
Maamoun Abdulkarim said that video from Palmyra after it was recaptured by the Syrian army has shown less damage than archaeologists feared when pictures emerged at the beginning of the year suggesting IS had smashed more monuments.
Fears of a new assault on Palmyra’s heritage were raised after pictures in January showed the group had destroyed parts of the Tetrapylon, one of the city’s most iconic monuments, and the facade of the second-century Roman Theatre.
They had already destroyed other landmarks, including a 1,800-year-old monumental arch, during their first occupation of the city which ended a year ago last March.
But Abdulkarim said preliminary photographs and video from the city showed almost no further damage than what was already known. “Really, our hearts had been overwhelmed with fear of a complete explosion of the theatre,” Abdulkarim said.
“We thought the situation would be much worse, that there would be eradication, that they [IS] would complete their crimes from the first occupation,” he added. AFP/ Reuters World Heritage Site