Syrian activists: Islamic State in control of Palmyra ruins
BEIRUT - The Islamic State, after seizing the ancient town of Palmyra in central Syria, is now also in full control of its famed archaeological site, Syrian activists said Thursday.
Rami Abdurrahman of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the extremists overrun the site, just to the southwest of Palmyra, shortly after midnight Wednesday.
An activist in the central province of Homs who goes by the name of Bebars al-Talawy also says that IS now controls the ruins at Palmyra, a UNESCO world heritage site famous for its 2,000-year-old towering Roman-era colonnades and other ruins and priceless artifacts.
Both activists said that IS has not damaged the ruins so far. There are fears the extremists would destroy the ruins as they did major archaeological sites in Iraq.
