Damascus/Beirut/Paris — Islamic State (IS) militants have destroyed one of the most famous monuments in the ancient city of Palmyra — the Tetrapylon — and the facade of its Roman Theatre, Syrian antiquities chief Maamoun Abdulkarim said on Friday. The Syrian government lost control of Palmyra to IS in December, the second time the jihadist group had overrun the Unesco world heritage site in the six-year-long Syrian conflict. Unesco director-general Irina Bokova said in a statement that the destruction constituted "a new war crime and an immense loss for the Syrian people and for humanity". The Tetrapylon, marking a slight bend along Palmyra’s grand colonnade, comprises a square stone platform with matching structures of four columns positioned at each of its corners. Satellite imagery sent by Abdulkarim to Reuters showed it largely destroyed, with only four of 16 columns still standing and the stone platform apparently covered in rubble. The imagery also showed extensive damage at t...
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