Syria army fighting ISIL to protect ancient city: Report

Syrian forces have reportedly been engaged in fierce clashes with the ISIL Takfiri terrorists in a bid to prevent them from destroying the historical city of Palmyra in the western Syrian province of Homs.

Fierce clashes are underway between the Syrian soldiers and ISIL militants just two kilometers away from the renowned world cultural heritage, AFP quoted the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights as saying on Thursday.

The ISIL extremists have threatened the UNESCO world heritage site with destruction.

Earlier in the day, Mamoun Abdulkarim, the head of Syria’s Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums (DGAM), warned that “an international catastrophe” will take place should ISIL extremists manage to enter the historical city.

If ISIL “enters Palmyra, it will spell its destruction … If the ancient city falls, it will be an international catastrophe. It will be a repetition of the barbarism and savagery which we saw in Nimrud, Hatra and Mosul,” Mamoun Abdulkarim said in reference to the ISIL’s destruction of ancient sites in neighboring Iraq.

Abdulkarim stated that the Syrian forces have transferred some of the precious historical artifacts to an adjacent museum.

“We can protect the statues and artifacts, but we cannot protect the architecture, the temples,” he pointed out, adding that the ISIL terrorists are trying to target and demolish the monuments “from the outside.”

The ISIL Takfiris have “not entered the city yet, and we hope these barbarians will never enter,” the Syrian official added

In 1980, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designated Palmyra as a world heritage site of “outstanding universal value.”

On Wednesday, UNESCO condemned the destruction of antiquities in the Middle East by the ISIL Takfiri terrorists, saying the move amounts to “war crime.”

The Takfiri terrorists have razed to the ground a number of mosques in Syria and Iraq, many of them dating back to the early years of the Islamic civilization. The terrorists have also destroyed tombs belonging to revered Shia and Sunni figures.

In April, the ISIL terrorist group released a video showing the Takfiri militants destroying artifacts at Iraq’s northern ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud before blowing up the site.

Also in February, the terrorists smashed ancient statues at the Ninawa museum in Mosul, using sledgehammers and drills.

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