Isil destroys city’s pillars in execution ceremony

MILITANTS from The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) have destroyed a set of Roman-era columns in the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra as part of an execution ritual, according to a monitoring group.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said yesterday that the jihadists had tied three prisoners to the columns before blowing them up.

Khaled Al-Homsi, an activist from Palmyra, said that Isil had yet to inform local residents who the individuals were or why they had been killed.

It was not immediately possible to verify the reports. Isil tightly controls the flow of information out of the area and activists who smuggle out footage risk death.

Since capturing Palmyra in May, Isil has released several carefully staged videos showing the ancient city’s piece-by-piece destruction. Gone now are the temples of Bel and Baalshamin, as well as the city’s towering arch and funeral columns.

Khaled Al-Asaad, the site’s custodian, was executed by Isil in August.

Recent Russian air strikes, which have overwhelmingly targeted US and Gulf-backed opposition groups, have allowed Isil to progress steadily southwards in Homs province, where Palmyra is located, as well as around the outskirts of Syria’s second city of Aleppo.