News Digest

Islamic State destroy 2000-year-old Arch of Triumph in Syria’s ancient city of Palmyra

The Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) have destroyed the nearly 2000-year-old Arch of Triumph in the ancient city of Palmyra, Syria’s head of antiquities and activists have said. The arch was one of the most recognisable sites in Palmyra, the central city affectionately known by Syrians as the “Bride of the Desert,” which ISIL seized in May. The monumental arch sat atop the famed colonnaded streets of the ancient city, which linked the Roman Empire to Persia and the East.

We have received news from the site that the Arch of Triumph was destroyed yesterday [Sunday]. IS[IL] bobby-trapped it several weeks ago.

Antiquities director Maamun Abdulkarim

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said ISIL blew up the arch but left the colonnades in place. An opposition activist who uses the name Khaled al-Homsi also posted on Twitter late on Sunday that ISIL had destroyed the arch. Homsi was a nephew of Khaled al-Asaad, the 81-year-old antiquities scholar and long-time director of the Palmyra site who relatives and witnesses say was beheaded by ISIL in August.