ISIS destroys ancient monuments in Palmyra

The Islamic State has blown up famous monuments in Palmyra just weeks after the jihadist group recaptured the ancient city from the Syrian government.

Syrian antiquities chief Maamoun Abdulkarim told Reuters on Friday that the militants destroyed the tetrapylon, a collection of pillars near the city's entrance, and the facade of its Roman Theatre.

The satellite imagery has shown that only four of the 16 pillars of the tetrapylon are left standing. The Roman Theatre also acquired extensive damage, with several towering stone structures destroyed on the stage.

The theater was the site where the Mariinsky orchestra performed last May after Palmyra was first liberated from the Islamic State.

Abdulkarim said that he learned about the destruction 10 days earlier, but he decided not to reveal any details until the researchers from Boston University published the satellite images.

"As long as this Isis storm continues, I fear it will get worse. My heart is in those buildings," Abdulkarim said, according to the Guardian.

Syrian archaeologists have sent numerous artifacts to Damascus to prevent further destruction, but many reliefs and buildings still remain at the site.

"This new blow against cultural heritage ... shows that cultural cleansing led by violent extremists is seeking to destroy both human lives and historical monuments in order to deprive the Syrian people of its past and its future," said UNESCO's director general, Irina Bokova.

ISIS also destroyed several monuments in Palmyra when it first captured the city in 2015. The terror group blew up the Temple of Baal Shamin and destroyed the Temple of Bel in August 2015. In October that same year, the jihadists destroyed the Arch of Triumph.

The terror group managed to take hold of the city for 10 months until Syrian government forces, with the help of allied militia and Russian air power, drove the terror group out last March.

ISIS regained control of Palmyra after it swept up into the city last December when the Syrian army and its allies were focused on fighting the rebels in the city of Aleppo.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the jihadists executed 12 people in different sites in Palmyra on Wednesday. Some were executed in the Roman amphitheater while others were killed in the Palmyra Museum's courtyard. The victims included teachers, government workers, opposition fighters and pro-government soldiers.