Assad Starts Heavy Bombing of Ancient Palmyra

He said there were reports of casualties but he had no firm toll.

 

The strikes targeted several areas of the city, including some close to the city’s famed Greco-Roman ruins, a UNESCO world heritage site, he said.

 

The Observatory said on Sunday that it had documented the executions of at least 217 people, among them 67 civilians, including 14 children. Some of those killed had been beheaded, Abdel Rahman said, adding that the jihadists had also taken some 600 people prisoner.

 

Syrian state TV on Sunday reported that about 400 civilians were massacred by ISIS since last Wednesday, while activists in Palmyra said that ISIS fighters hunted down President Bashar al-Assad’s troops and loyalists, killing up to 300 of them.

 

The pro-government Al-Watan said Monday that the number of executions had risen to 450.

 

The capture of Palmyra has raised fears that ISIS might try to destroy the well-preserved, 2,000-year-old Roman-era city on the town’s edge – as they have destroyed other archaeological treasures in Syria and Iraq.

 

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