Islamic State (ISIS) Terrorists have continued on their barbaric,historical artifact destroying rampage by smashing six archaeological artifacts that were confiscated from a “smuggler”.
A statement released by IS the group said six busts from the historic town of Palmyra, were found during a routine checkpoint search. An Islamic “court” ordered their destruction as well as the whipping of the “smuggler”.
Released photographs showed ISIS militants smashing the busts to pieces with large hammers, and the “smuggler” being whipped.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it was not 100 percent certain if the busts were authentic or if ISIS had used fakes to disguise their own artifact smuggling which funds terrorist operations.
The historic Syrian town of Palmyra was seized by IS last May with many now fearing they will destroy archaeological sites there as they did in Iraq.
Palmyra’s UNESCO world heritage site contains priceless artifacts and Roman colonnades dating back 2,000 years. Before the Syrian conflict began in 2011, the town was visited by thousands of tourists each year.
The chief of the Syrian government’s Antiquities and Museums Department, Maamoun Abdulkarim, said ISIS had also recently destroyed a lion statue in Palmyra which dated back to the 2nd century. Discovered in 1977, the statue had stood at the entrance to the town’s museum, and had been protected by being placed inside a metal box to protect it from damage.
Last March, ISIS destroyed UNESCO’s 3000 year old world heritage site Nimrod and the 2,000 year old Hatra site.
ISIS, in its violent interpretation of Shariah law, believe ancient relics promote idolatry.
Stay Connected
