Damascus, Syria • Islamic State militants destroyed three ancient tower tombs in the central city of Palmyra in the last few days, a Syrian government official said Friday.
Tower tombs, built on high grounds, are a unique feature of the Roman-era caravan city.
Maamoun Abdulkarim, head of the Antiquities and Museums Department in Damascus, said Friday the militants destroyed the tower tombs, including the Elahbel tower that dates back to A.D. 103, 10 days earlier. Abdulkarim said his information was based on witness accounts and satellite images provided by the Boston-based American Schools of Oriental Research.
In a report issued Thursday, the ASOR Syrian Heritage initiative said the IS group has destroyed seven tower tombs since the end of June over two phases. The last round of destruction occurred between Aug. 27 and Wednesday, including the destruction of the Tower of Elahbel, the most prominent example of Palmyra's distinct funerary monuments. The tower tombs of Iamliku and Atenaten were destroyed earlier.
"Collectively, the damage to these tombs is not confined to a single area within the Valley of the Tombs, but instead it is distributed throughout various locations, leaving some towers destroyed and others still standing," the report said, showing a sequence of before-and-after satellite images. "The reasoning for this differentiation is unknown."
The militants claim ancient relics and sites of worship promote idolatry. They have already destroyed modern-day Islamic cemeteries and shrines in the city.
On Sunday, the militants destroyed the two-millennia-old temple of Bel in the city, confirmed by U.N. satellite images. The smaller Temple of Baalshamin was also destroyed days before, and the IS group posted images of the damage.
The ASOR Syrian Heritage Initiative report, the most detailed on the recent damage caused by the IS group, confirmed the destruction of the smaller temple with satellite images. At the temple of Bel site, only the temple colonnades and the front gateway to the inner sanctuary were still standing, it said.
The U.N. Cultural Agency UNESCO called the destruction of Palmyra an "intolerable crime against civilization."
COMBO - This combination of two satellite images provided by UNITAR-UNOSAT shows damage to the main building of the ancient Temple of Bel in Palmyra, Syria on Monday, Aug. 31, 2015, top, and before the damage on Thursday, Aug. 27, 2015. The main building has been destroyed, a United Nations agency said on Monday, Aug. 31, 2015. The imagery was taken before and after a massive explosion was set off near the 2,000-year-old temple in the city occupied by Islamic State militants. (UNITAR-UNOSAT via AP)
This undated image released by UNESCO shows the site of the ancient city of Palmyra, Syria. A satellite image on Monday, Aug. 31, 2015 shows that the main building of the ancient Temple of Bel in the Syrian city of Palmyra has been destroyed, a United Nations agency said. The image was taken a day after a massive explosion was set off near the 2,000-year-old temple in the city occupied by Islamic State militants. (Silvan Rehfeld, UNESCO via AP)
This undated image released by UNESCO shows the site of the ancient city of Palmyra, Syria. A satellite image on Monday, Aug. 31, 2015 shows that the main building of the ancient Temple of Bel in the Syrian city of Palmyra has been destroyed, a United Nations agency said. The image was taken a day after a massive explosion was set off near the 2,000-year-old temple in the city occupied by Islamic State militants. (Ron Van Oers, UNESCO via AP)
This undated image released by UNESCO shows the site of the ancient city of Palmyra, Syria. A satellite image on Monday, Aug. 31, 2015 shows that the main building of the ancient Temple of Bel in the Syrian city of Palmyra has been destroyed, a United Nations agency said. The image was taken a day after a massive explosion was set off near the 2,000-year-old temple in the city occupied by Islamic State militants. (Ron Van Oers, UNESCO via AP)
This Friday, Sept. 4, 2015 photo made available by NASA shows a mural depicting Boeing's newly named CST-100 Starliner commercial crew transportation spacecraft on the company's Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Friday marked the the grand opening of the facility; the building was formerly a processing site for the space shuttle. (Kim Shiflett/NASA via AP)
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