Blast in Syria razes ancient Bel Temple
Only shell remaining, witness says
BEIRUT — Islamic State militants in Syria severely damaged the Bel Temple, considered one of the greatest sites of the ancient world, in a massive explosion Sunday, activists said.
The 2,000- year- old temple was part of the remains of the ancient caravan city of Palmyra in central Syria’s Homs province, about 150 miles northeast of the Syrian capital, Damascus. The city, seized by the Islamic State in May, contains architecture that combined Greco- Roman influence with Persian traditions.
The news of the latest destruction at Palmyra came just days after the Islamic State released propaganda images purportedly showing militants blowing up another Palmyra temple, the
2,000- year- old Baalshamin dedicated to the Phoenician god of storms and fertilizing rains.
Satellite images of Palmyra released by the United Nations on Friday confirmed that the Baalshamin temple is no longer there.
The U. N. cultural agency UNESCO, which has designated Palmyra as a world heritage site, called the destruction of the Baalshamin temple a war crime.
Destruction of the Baalshamin temple was “a new war crime,” Irina Bokova, UNESCO’s director- general, said in a statement on Aug. 24. She added that the Islamic State “is killing people and destroying sites, but cannot silence history and will ultimately fail to erase this great culture from the memory of the world.”
Bokova called Palmyra’s art and architecture “a symbol of the complexity and wealth of the Syrian identity and history.”
Earlier this month, relatives and witnesses said that Islamic State militants had beheaded Khaled al- Asaad, an 81- year- old antiquities scholar who devoted his life to understanding Palmyra.
The Islamic State group, which has imposed a violent interpretation of Islamic law across its self- declared “caliphate” straddling Syria and Iraq, says such ancient relics promote idolatry.
The destruction of the Baalshamin site offered the first indication that the Palmyra ruins were on the militants’ target list, in contradiction of an earlier Islamic State statement that they were not.
In an audio recording released shortly after the Islamic State captured the town from government forces in May, an Islamic State fighter said the group had no reason to destroy the Palmyra site, because its goal is only to remove idolatrous depictions of human forms, not to attack buildings such as the stately
columns and structures that comprise the Palmyra site.
The Islamic State has wrecked numerous sites of priceless significance to the ancient heritage of the Middle East in Syria and Iraq, and it has often made a point of filming the process. Militants have smashed statues at Mosul Museum, razed the remains of cities in what was once ancient Nineveh, and destroyed churches and monasteries in Syria.
At the same time, the group is thought to have salvaged many smaller items to sell on the thriving black market for antiquities from the area.
Last week, the FBI urged U. S. antiquity dealers to be on the lookout for artifacts smuggled from Iraq and Syria, warning that purchasing items from the Islamic State could trigger charges related to terrorism.
A Palmyra resident, who goes by the name of Nasser al- Thaer, said Islamic State militants set off a huge blast at 1: 45 p. m. Sunday.
“It is total destruction,” he said of the scene of the explosion. “The bricks and columns are on the ground.”
“It was an explosion the deaf would hear,” he added.
The resident said only the outer wall surrounding the temple remains.
The Britain- based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has a network of activists in Syria, said the temple was damaged. It did not provide details.
The temple, consecrated to the Semitic god Bel, had been well preserved and was a source of much pride for Syrians. It was consecrated in 32 A. D. and was the center of religious life in Palmyra in ancient times.
It stood out among the ruins not far from the colonnades of Palmyra, which is affectionately known by Syrians as the “Bride of the Desert.”
Earlier Sunday, Islamic State fighters pushed into a large district in southern Damascus, clashing with rival militants just a few miles from the center of the Syrian capital, the extremist group and Syrian activists said.
More than two dozen militants were killed in the clashes on the edges of the Qadam neighborhood, said the Observatory.
The pro- Islamic State Aamaq News Agency reported that Islamic State fighters seized half of Qadam. The Observatory’s Rami Abdurrahman said Islamic State fighters were holding two streets and that fighting was continuing.
Islamic State supporters posted propaganda pictures claiming to show the group’s fighters advancing in the narrow streets of Qadam. The authenticity of the images could not be confirmed independently.
The Islamic State has emerged as one of the most powerful forces in the battle to overthrow Syrian President Bashar Assad. Armed Islamic factions fighting forces loyal to Assad control parts of Damascus and large parts of the city’s suburbs. Islamic State fighters control large parts of the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk, east of Qadam.
Also Sunday, a mortar round hit an upscale neighborhood of central Damascus, killing four people, including a girl, Syrian state TV said.
It is not uncommon for Damascus to be shelled. Sunday’s attack targeted the neighborhood of Abu Rummaneh, which houses hotels and several embassies.
An Associated Press reporter on the scene saw two people wounded by shrapnel. Vehicles in the area were also damaged.