IS militants destroy Syrian Palmyra’s Arch of Triumph

DAMASCUS, Oct. 5 (NsNewsWire) — The Islamic State (IS) militants on Sunday destroyed the centuries-old Triumphal Arch of the ancient city of Palmyra in central Syria, the country’s museums chief told Xinhua.

The Triumphal Arch, which dates back to the second century AD, has been destroyed by the IS militants, just weeks after the terror group booby-trapped that picturesque arch, Maamoun Abdul-Karim, the head of the Damascus Department of Antiquities and Museums, told Xinhua by phone Sunday night.

“We have had information that the IS had booby-trapped the arch, but we have never thought that their madness will lead them to actually blowing it up giving the fact that the arch held no religious signs or indications,” he said.

“We expected the bombings to target the statues, temples or tombs and graves because the IS deems those as a form of polytheism in pre-Islamic eras. But the arch is of a civil nature that has nothing to do with religion and we didn’t expect them to destroy it,” he said.

The arch holds its significance because it’s considered the entrance of the ancient city of Palmyra and one of its most beautiful icons and landmarks.

“We believe, according to crossed testimonies that we have received, that the bombing took place on Sunday,” he said, adding that “IS has for weeks used excavators around the arch before booby-trapping it.”

Abdul-Karim, meanwhile, expressed pessimism about the destiny of other ancient ruins in Palmyra.