ISIS Sets Explosives In Syria's Ancient Palmyra Archaeological Site

There they go again.
Get ready for yet another spectacular act of senseless destruction from ISIS.
Yes, the insane crimes against humanity have continued as ISIS has murdered it's way across Syria and Iraq...destroying people, places and things which they feel has no place in there gleaming new and nightmarish Islamic State.

Innocent people have been brutally executed and historic world treasures have been obliterated from history...and now it looks like the beautiful and ancient ruins at Palmyra are about to be leveled, as reports show ISIS is now wiring this latest UNESCO World Heritage site for demolition.

I'm sure they'll make a great show of it as they detonate and obliterate this irreplaceable archaeological treasure....while proclaiming the greatness of Allah!

On the bright side, we'll still have plenty of photos of Palmyra to show our children and our children's children...so, there's that...

Damascus (AFP) - Islamic State group jihadists have mined the spectacular ancient ruins in Syria's Palmyra, an antiquities official and monitor said Sunday, prompting fears for the UNESCO World Heritage site.

Syria's antiquities chief Maamoun Abdulkarim and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said that the group had laid mines and explosives in Palmyra’s Greco-Roman ruins.

The Observatory, which relies on a network of sources on the ground, said the explosives were laid on Saturday.

"But it is not known if the purpose is to blow up the ruins or to prevent regime forces from advancing into the town," said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman.

He said regime forces had launched heavy air strikes against the residential part of Palmyra in the past three days, killing at least 11 people.

The ancient Syrian city of Palmyra is famed for its extensive and well-preserved ruins (AFP Photo/)
"The regime forces are to the west outside the city, and in recent days they have brought in reinforcements suggesting they may be planning an operation to retake Palmyra," he added.

A political source told AFP that a leading commander had been dispatched to the region to organise an offensive to recapture and secure Palmyra and several key gas fields nearby.

Abdulkarim also said Sunday he had received reports from Palmyra residents that the ruins had been mined.

"We have preliminary information from residents saying that this is correct, they have laid mines at the temple site," he told AFP.

"I hope that these reports are not correct, but we are worried."

He urged "Palmyra's residents, tribal chiefs and religious and cultural figures to intervene to prevent this... and prevent what happened in northern Iraq", referring to IS's destruction of heritage sites there.

"I am very pessimistic and feel sadness," he added.

IS captured Palmyra, which is famed for its extensive and well-preserved ruins, on May 21.

The city's fall prompted international concern about the fate of the heritage site described by UNESCO as of "outstanding universal value".

Before it was overrun, the head of the UN cultural body urged that the ruins be spared, saying they were "an irreplaceable treasure for the Syrian people, and the world".

IS has released several videos documenting its destruction of heritage sites in Iraq and Syria.

In its extreme interpretation of Islam, statues, idols and shrines amount to recognising objects of worship other than God and must be destroyed.

There have been no reports of damage to sites in Palmyra since IS seized it, though the group's fighters reportedly entered the city's museum, which had largely been emptied of its collection before the jihadists arrived.

The group executed more than 200 people in and around Palmyra in the days after capturing the city, including 20 who were shot dead in the ancient ruins, according to the Observatory.

Before Syria's war began, more than 150,000 tourists visited Palmyra each year, admiring its beautiful statues, more than 1,000 columns and formidable necropolis of over 500 tombs.

It had already suffered before IS's arrival, with clashes between rebels and government forces in 2013 leaving collapsed columns and statues in their wake.

The site is also believed to have been looted during the chaos of the war that began in March 2011 with anti-government protests.

In December, the UN said nearly 300 cultural heritage sites in Syria, including Palmyra, had been destroyed, damaged and looted.

news.yahoo.com...;_ylt=AwrXnCdyvIZVBDwAXwnQtDMD;_ylu=X3o'___'ByYnR1Zmd1BGNvbG8DZ3Ex BHBvcwMyBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzcg--

Will someone please just vaporize these monsters, PLEASE?

This is why we don't know who the hell we are or how we got here.

I am at a loss how some sculpted rocks are so offensive they must be destroyed.

The winners write the History. That's why we are so screwed up.

a reply to: IAMTAT

Get ready for yet another spectacular act of senseless destruction from ISIS.

Actually its minor, compared to the actual bombing of cities with people in them by NATO jets.

But designed to incense us here in the west and distract us from whats really going on. The destruction and subjugation of another Middle Eastern nation for its territory and resources. Who cares about a few crumbly ruins compared to that?

Gobble, gobble.

originally posted by: intrptr
a reply to: IAMTAT

Get ready for yet another spectacular act of senseless destruction from ISIS.

Actually its minor, compared to the actual bombing of cities with people in them by NATO jets.

But designed to incense us here in the west and distract us from whats really going on. The destruction and subjugation of another Middle Eastern nation for its territory and resources. Who cares about a few crumbly ruins compared to that?

Gobble, gobble.

Seriously? You're going with "Everyone does it...so it's no big deal" angle?
Expected. (Face Palm)
Whatever floats your boat. Enjoy the fireworks.

a reply to: IAMTATy

My heart sinks at every piece of news that comes out of that God-forsaken Hell-hole. What a bunch of hopelessly depraved, utter wankers.

These 'people' have not a shred of respect for anything on this Earth, they don't know the meaning of the word.

I've always been against any western military forces wading in there yet again, but this intentional mass destruction of life and of historic sites is just acutely offensive and inhuman.

Sitting back and doing nothing is obviously not going to resolve anything and I very much believe that going in there with all guns blazing may not resolve anything either, we have to choose between the lesser of the two evils - stay out of it and watch them butcher and destroy their way across the planet, or go in there and stamp them out. We can't just keep shrugging our shoulders and looking away, and IS cannot be reasoned with.

Something has to be done to stop them butchering innocent peaceful people and halt their wrecking rampage. All the nations of the world need to come together to form one united military force and stop IS in its tracks for good. I know many innocent lives will also be caught up in the crossfire but many innocent lives are already being lost, and will continue to be, as long as we do nothing.

As civilised nations we have a responsibility to humanity to save those innocent people from being forced to live under the most inhumane treatment and rule since the Nazis infected the planet. Except this time we are all fully aware of this massacre. Are we going to just let it happen this time?

Surely something can be done. Leave the politics and religion to one side, and let's all come together for once and do something for Humanity.

Sadly, we ARE just allowing it to happen...and there doesn't seem to be any solutions coming from world leaders.

originally posted by: IAMTAT
Sadly, we ARE just allowing it to happen...and there doesn't seem to be any solutions coming from world leaders.

Our Arab allies who we supply weapons to fund ISIS The west is in it too through the back door

This is the reason for the US involvement in a lot of ME wars, such as Iraq, to bury or hide the ancient knowledge.

And Isil is funded by black ops, probably Mossad too.

They can't have NWO and age of aquarius if they don't destroy the past.

I become disappointed in myself when I see how much hatred I can muster within me when I think about those.......
I can't even think of a word nasty enough to call them anymore, that truly expresses my disdain and contempt. And apparently hatred. Sometimes I even find myself wishing that they would all simply drop dead. In unison.

a reply to: IAMTAT

Seriously? You're going with "Everyone does it…so it's no big deal" angle?

The big deal is the destruction of the nation Syria, not some uninhabited ruins.

Are you advocating the destruction of Syria because some vandals?

originally posted by: intrptr
a reply to: IAMTAT

Seriously? You're going with "Everyone does it…so it's no big deal" angle?

The big deal is the destruction of the nation Syria, not some uninhabited ruins.

Are you advocating the destruction of Syria because some vandals?

No. I am advocating the destruction of ISIS. Why aren't you?

Amazing how this went from an ISIS thread to a the West is at fault in less than one page.

Some may not see this as something important, but to others it is.

a reply to: intrptr

Are you advocating the destruction of Syria because some vandals?

Are you advocating the destruction of historical sites?

And if you let these people continue...Syria will be no more.

And they are more than just vandals.

a reply to: IAMTAT

This might be why, considering there's now more Iranian soldiers in eastern Syria than there are ISIS fighters, Al-Nusra fighters, and FSA fighters combined:

www.worldtribune.com...

TEL AVIV — Israel’s intelligence community has determined that Iran
deployed 50,000 troops in Syria.
Israeli military intelligence commander Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi said Iran
has taken over much of the Syrian campaign against Sunni rebels. Kochavi
said Iran deployed Hizbullah and Shi’ite fighters in Iraq to protect the
regime of President Bashar Assad, whose military dropped from 220,000 to
50,000.

They disembarked from ships at most 2 weeks ago in coastal Syria. Included are Afghani and Iraqi Shiite militia under the command of Iranian officer Major General Qasem Soleimani.

www.washingtonexaminer.com...

The Iranian government has sent 15,000 fighters to Syria to help the Syrian government.

The force, made up of Iranians, Iraqis and Afghanis, arrived in the Damascus region and in the province of Latakia, a Lebanese political source told The Daily Star.

The fighters hope to reverse recent setbacks Syrian government troops have experienced on the battlefield by the end of June, the source said. The fighters are expected to spearhead an effort to seize areas of Idlib province, which has been taken over by a rebel jihadi-coalition.

Gen. Qasem Soleimani, the commander of Iran's elite Quds force, was in Latakia prepping for the effort, according to the source. Soleimani promised a "surprise" from Tehran and Damascus.

"The world will be surprised by what we and the Syrian military leadership are preparing for the coming days," Iran's official IRNA state news agency quoted Soleimani as saying Tuesday.

originally posted by: intrptr
Actually its minor, compared to the actual bombing of cities with people in them by NATO jets.

Oh, get off your anti-NATO high horse... What NATO mission is this in Syria then? And what bombing of cities by these "NATO" jets has taken place?

originally posted by: intrptr
But designed to incense us here in the west and distract us from whats really going on. The destruction and subjugation of another Middle Eastern nation for its territory and resources. Who cares about a few crumbly ruins compared to that?

Gobble, gobble.

Resources? Subjugation?

Syria has very little in the way of natural resources, certainly not enough to want to fight over especially as the US is now one of the leading producers of oil and gas. And it is a very poor way to "subjugate" them with a 4 year long, bitter civil war than has crippled what little industrial capacity Syria had.

And what other ME countries have been "subjugated"?

originally posted by: ufoorbhunter
Our Arab allies who we supply weapons to fund ISIS

The west is in it too through the back door

No, the Arabs (Qatar and Saudi, mainly) are supporting people like Al Nusra and other more moderate Islamist groups. The West is supporting the FSA.

It isn't quite as simple as you might think - there are literally dozens of various groups of many flavours, it isn't simply ISIS vs Assad.

originally posted by: tsurfer2000h
Amazing how this went from an ISIS thread to a the West is at fault in less than one page.

Some may not see this as something important, but to others it is.

Quite - the problem was actually created by the Arab nations themselves from what started as a popular uprising over Government oppression, some ME nations saw this as a chance to remove Assad who is a key ally of Iran, who is Saudi Arabia's biggest rival.

It's regional geo-politics at play, but for those who want to bang the "evil West" drum, actual facts and a bit of intelligence is not required.

As long as Saudi Arabia and Qatar do not get a regime change the Wahabi menace will continue since it is useful for the rulers in these countries and their economic interest. And US politicians will not lift any hand to really fix it since it is giving support to the military industrial complex and business as usual.

originally posted by: stumason
Quite - the problem was actually created by the Arab nations themselves from what started as a popular uprising over Government oppression, some ME nations saw this as a chance to remove Assad who is a key ally of Iran, who is Saudi Arabia's biggest rival.
It's regional geo-politics at play, but for those who want to bang the "evil West" drum, actual facts and a bit of intelligence is not required.

Oh Shiite (pound sign ###)
Sunnis sure do hate Shiites..