Russian drone footage shows wide damage at Syria’s Palmyra
Daesh militants have destroyed ancient sites across Syria and Iraq, perceiving them as monuments to idolatry
Russia released drone footage yesterday showing new destruction in Syria’s historic town of Palmyra, which was recently recaptured by Daesh, and warned that the militants could be planning the further demolition of antiquities.
The Russian Defence Ministry says Syrian government forces are advancing toward the town as another battle for the ancient site looms.
The video showed that the militants have badly damaged the facade of the Roman-era amphitheatre and the Tetrapylon — a set of four monuments with four columns each at the centre of the colonnaded road leading to the theatre.
The video appears to show that only two of the 16 columns remain standing. Daesh militants have destroyed ancient sites across Syria and Iraq, perceiving them as monuments to idolatry.
Palmyra, a Unesco world heritage site that once linked Persia, India and China with the Roman Empire and the Meditreranean, has already seen destruction at the hands of Daesh.
The ancient town first fell to Daesh militants in May 2015, when they held it for 10 months. The extremists were eventually driven out by Russian and Syrian government forces, but they seized the town again in December.
Truck movement
Russia’s Defence Ministry said in a statement yesterday that Syrian government troops advancing toward the city are about 20 kilometres away. It said Russian warplanes last week carried out more than 90 sorties to provide air cover for the offensive. It added that some 200 Daesh militants have been killed and that Syrian forces destroyed 180 “infrastructure objects” and 15 ammunition depots.
The drone footage, which the Russian Defence Ministry said was filmed earlier this month, showed a central section of Palmyra’s theatre lying in ruins.
The ministry said its drones also recorded significant truck movements in the area around the archaeological site, which could mean that Daesh is bringing explosives to the site.
Maamoun Abdul Karim, the head of Syria’s antiquities department, said last month that reports of the recent destruction first trickled out in late December. Satellite images surfaced in January.