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IS kills Syrian archaeologist in ancient Palmyra city

Xinhua, August 19, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Islamic State (IS) militants killed a prominent archaeologist in the millennia-old oasis city of Palmyra in central Syria, the state news agency SANA reported Wednesday.

The IS militants, who stormed Palmyra in May, tried to take information out of the 81-year-old Khaled al-Asaad about the locations of the historic treasures of Palmyra before killing him, SANA said.

After failing to extract any information, the IS "barbarically" beheaded Assad, who was also the former manager of Palmyra's antiquities, and hung his body on one of the historic columns in central Palmyra.

Citing Maamoun Abdul-Karim, the head of the Syrian National Museums and Antiquities, SANA said the antiquities directorate had repeatedly asked Asaad to leave Palmyra after the IS attack, but "he refused to leave his city and his hometown even if he had to die."

Throughout his carrier, Asaad had achieved remarkable work in the restoration process of a large number of antiquities. SANA said Assad was "the father of Palmyra ruins after giving them 50 years of his life."

Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the IS beheaded the scholar with a knife at a square in Palmyra, with tens of people watching his execution.

The UK-based watchdog group said the scholar was abducted by the terror-labeled group last month.

The IS stormed Palmyra and its ancient part last May, prompting the Syrian troops to wage a counter offensive for the recapture of that city.

Palmyra contains the monumental ruins of a great city that was one of the most important cultural centers of the ancient world.

After storming Palmyra, the IS militants blew up the city's military prison and several Islamic tombs.

Syria has many prehistoric, Greek, Byzantine and Islamic heritages. Before the crisis, Syria had attracted many multinational archaeological missions coming for searching new clues of historical facts on the development of civilizations.

The UNESCO has listed six Syrian sites on the World Heritage List, including the old cities of Damascus and Aleppo, al-Madhiq castle, the Krak des Chevaliers, the ancient city of Bosra and Palmyra and the ancient villages in northern Syria. Endit