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Syria: IS destroys part of Palmyra amphitheatre | Syria: IS destroys part of Palmyra amphitheatre |
(35 minutes later) | |
Militants from the Islamic State group have destroyed part of the Roman amphitheatre in the ancient city of Palmyra, Syrian officials say. | Militants from the Islamic State group have destroyed part of the Roman amphitheatre in the ancient city of Palmyra, Syrian officials say. |
The facade of the second-century amphitheatre and a group of four pillared gates called a tetrapylon have been ruined, state media report. | |
The jihadists recaptured the Unesco-listed archaeological site in December from government troops. | The jihadists recaptured the Unesco-listed archaeological site in December from government troops. |
IS previously held the site for ten months up to March 2016. | IS previously held the site for ten months up to March 2016. |
The group is known to have destroyed other monuments before it was forced out by a Russian-backed government offensive. | |
The Syrian antiquities chief, Maamoun Abdulkarim, confirmed the latest destruction to Reuters news agency, but did not say exactly when it is believed to have taken place. | |
However, the two monuments were intact when IS retook the ancient site and the nearby city known locally as Tadmur last month. | |
On Thursday, a monitoring group said IS militants had beheaded four people and shot eight others dead, outside a museum close to the archaeological site. | |
The militants have previously carried out killings in the Roman amphitheatre. |