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Islamic State seizes Syrian city of Palmyra, threatening ancient ruins

May 20, 2015 11:13 pm By Robert Spencer

PalmyraNot to worry. John “Baghdad Bob” Kerry says the Islamic State is being driven back. Yes, they keep taking new cities, but really, they’re losing! “Islamic State militants seize Syrian city of Palmyra, threatening ancient ruins,” by Loveday Morris, Washington Post, May 20, 2015:

BAGHDAD — Islamic State militants seized control of the majority of the Syrian city of Palmyra on Wednesday, marking the second significant strategic gain for the group in the past week and leaving one of the region’s most renowned archeological sites in peril.

Activists and Syrian state media said pro-government forces had withdrawn from the city 130 miles northeast of Damascus after a week-long assault by the militants. The city’s notorious Tadmor Prison, where scores of anti-regime political prisoners are incarcerated, was also in the extremist group’s hands by nightfall, activists said.

The gain consolidates the Islamic State’s control west toward the Syrian capital and east in the direction of the border with Iraq, where militants seized the city of Ramadi at the end of last week. Advances by the Islamic State demonstrate the group’s ability to continue to take territory, despite recent assertions by American officials that it remains largely on the defensive after 10 months of U.S.-led airstrikes.

The fall of Palmyra to Islamic State forces effectively puts the ancient sites, which lie just on the outskirts of the modern city, in the group’s hands. Irina Bokova, director-general of UNESCO, said she was “ deeply concerned” about the situation at the site, which rose to prominence as a wealthy caravan oasis in the 1st century A.D. After some 2,000 years, the striking Roman colonnades of the Temple of Ba’al still stand majestically in the desert.

Since its advances in Iraq last summer, the Islamic State has laid waste to sites dating to antiquity, branding them heretical according to its interpretation of Islam. Its fighters have smashed statues and buildings and sold off ancient artifacts that were small enough to be smuggled. The area surrounding Palmyra is also rich in gas and oil, potentially boosting the Islamic State’s wealth.

The “vast majority” of the city is in Islamic State hands, said a Syrian activist who is in contact with sources in the area. He spoke on the condition of anonymity for security reasons.

Clashes were continuing at the city’s military intelligence headquarters, while Islamic State fighters had surrounded the military airport and seized several weapons depots, he said.

An activist in Palmyra who for security reasons uses the pseudonym Ahmed al-Homsi said the Islamic State had released prisoners from Tadmor. The Syrian government’s warplanes were carrying out airstrikes Wednesday night, he said.

The capture of Palmyra, home to roughly 50,000 people, is one of Islamic State’s first significant advances directly against President Bashar al-Assad’s forces. Islamic State fighters had previously won ground in Syria mainly from rebel groups….

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Filed Under: Featured, Islamic State (aka ISIS, ISIL, Daesh), Syria Tagged With: Palmyra


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Comments

  1. nacazo says

    May 20, 2015 at 11:50 pm

    If a JV team puts on Lakers uniforms, that doesn’t make them Kobe Bryant.

    – Obama talking about ISIS

    • Angemon says

      May 21, 2015 at 8:42 am

      Conversely, if someone says that the Harlem Globetrotters are a JV team that doesn’t make them bad players. It does, however, place into question the knowledge of the person doing that statement – I certainly wouldn’t take basketball advice from someone who said such a thing.

  2. sebold56@yahoo.com says

    May 21, 2015 at 1:17 am

    Then don’t let them destroy Syria if they are such a joke.

  3. Mahendra Singh says

    May 21, 2015 at 1:20 am

    According to true Islam anything dating back before the revelation of Koran is called
    “Jahiliya”. An Islamic society does not any pre-Islamic monuments, rather they
    are blasphemous. That is the reason the Isis thoughtfully destroyed Mosul museum,
    Khalipg Omer burnt the library at Alexandria and the Talibans blew up the 1500 year old
    Buddha statues.

    But these creeps love to use the fruits of the western christian culture.

  4. Michael Copeland says

    May 21, 2015 at 2:03 am

    “Islam has a proud tradition of tolerance.”
    Barack Obama, Cairo.

    • Stephen Rohaty says

      May 21, 2015 at 8:08 am

      Just when do you expect that tradition to begin, obama?

  5. Richard says

    May 21, 2015 at 2:17 am

    The price tag for failing to realize an appropriate response to the thirteenth century ce. plus social networking … as some would still say …

  6. Stephen Rohaty says

    May 21, 2015 at 8:05 am

    kerry, obama (sic), you remind me of the German civilian who commented, “I notice that each of our latest victories is closer to Berlin.”

  7. Stephen Rohaty says

    May 21, 2015 at 8:14 am

    The Commander is responsible for everything his troops do or fail to do. Who was the commander in Vietnam? Who is the commander in chief NOW?

  8. Bukkdem Jizheads says

    May 21, 2015 at 2:09 pm

    Of course, all this is caused by Climate Change.

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