Official: Islamic militants destroy ancient tombs in Syria
ALBERT AJI, Associated Press

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Islamic State militants destroyed three ancient tower tombs in the central city of Palmyra in the last few days, a Syrian government official said Friday.

Tower tombs, built on high grounds, are a unique feature of the Roman-era caravan city.

Maamoun Abdulkarim, head of the Antiquities and Museums Department in Damascus, said Friday the militants destroyed the tower tombs, including the Elahbel tower that dates back to A.D. 103, 10 days earlier. Abdulkarim said his information was based on witness accounts and satellite images provided by the Boston-based American Schools of Oriental Research.

In a report issued Thursday, the ASOR Syrian Heritage initiative said the IS group has destroyed seven tower tombs since the end of June over two phases. The last round of destruction occurred between August 27 and September 2, including the destruction of the Tower of Elahbel, the most prominent example of Palmyra's distinct funerary monuments. The tower tombs of Iamliku and Atenaten were destroyed earlier.

"Collectively, the damage to these tombs is not confined to a single area within the Valley of the Tombs, but instead it is distributed throughout various locations, leaving some towers destroyed and others still standing," the report said, showing a sequence of before-and-after satellite images. "The reasoning for this differentiation is unknown."

The militants claim ancient relics and sites of worship promote idolatry. They have already destroyed modern-day Islamic cemeteries and shrines in the city.

On Sunday, the militants destroyed the two-millennia-old temple of Bel in the city, confirmed by U.N. satellite images. The smaller Temple of Baalshamin was also destroyed days before, and the IS group posted images of the damage.

The ASOR Syrian Heritage Initiative report, the most detailed on the recent damage caused by the IS group, confirmed the destruction of the smaller temple with satellite images. At the temple of Bel site, only the temple colonnades and the front gateway to the inner sanctuary were still standing, it said.

The U.N. Cultural Agency UNESCO called the destruction of Palmyra an "intolerable crime against civilization."

Separately, the IS group posted pictures on social media apparently showing a town hall-style meeting in the central town of Qaryatain with local Christians.

The pictures showed the residents sitting in the meeting and some signing a contract forcing them to pay special taxes for non-Muslims. The contract, dated Sunday, also says they must abide by Islamic laws and regulations imposed by the group, refrain from building new churches and hide their religious symbols to be allowed to continue to live in Qaryatain.

Thousands of the town's residents, a mixed population of Sunni Muslims and Christians, fled after Islamic State militants overran it earlier this month. The group abducted 230 residents, including dozens of Christians, from Qaryatain, which lies in the middle of a triangle formed by the cities of Homs, Palmyra and Damascus. Activists say some Christians were released, though the fate of the others was unknown.

Christians in the militant stronghold of Raqqa, which IS seized in 2014, were forced to pay special protection taxes as well.

-- (c) Associated Press 2015-09-05

Islamic militants should be referred to as "Daesh."

Soon, the same will start to happen to Europe's Classical and Christian architectural heritage, as unscreened muslim "refugees" pour into the West. What began in Syria will sweep into Germany, France, Italy, Greece, and the UK. They will leave a pile of rubble in their wake.

Get ready Thailand, you are next! Just my thoughts.....

I did actually shed a few tears when they started this obscene desecration of our proud collective human history and culture. Their actions in destroying any art, monuments or relics, are shameful beyond words.

This is also a crime against God, no matter which name you choose to give him. If God gave us hands able to build beautiful architecture, sculpture and other art, then surely he is watching us with pride, as we create these beautiful things.

What kind of God would care if the beautiful artistry we create, is created in his honour only. Does ISIS think that God is so insecure? Does ISIS think God needs his name written on every beauitful thing his children create? Surely the fact that God created us, and we are making beautiful things, is testimony to his greatness! If we are God's children, then everything we have created since the first cave-paintings, is always thanks to his greatness. We do not need to attribute everything to God, it is automatically thanks to him, if we believe he is our creator.

This basic logic-path above, is further proof that ISIS is not religious, they do not worship any God, by any name. They are simply criminals who enjoy killing people and blowing things up. They speak for nobody but themselves, and they make all normal human beings ashamed and sorrowful, no matter if those humans are religious or not.

They are not "the sons of the desert." They are "the father of the desert."

If we believe in a Supreme Being, any name, creator of everything in every universe, we accept that he is infinitely powerful and infinitely wise. He did not just pop into existence and start creating people in the last few thousand years, he created everything and everyone that ever existed. He created the people who built ancient pagan temple sites, and the people who made the first rock-paintings too.

ISIS are now telling us, that this all-powerful Supreme Being, actually has a very nervous and insecure personality, hiding in his Godly bedroom with the curtains drawn, feeling unhappy because the people out there just don't understand him or give him enough credit.

This is absurd, and it is an insult to Supreme Beings everywhere. I would go further, and say that it is far more likely that God is sitting up there today, shaking his head sadly, and thinking "I was always rather fond of that temple, especially the pillars with the nice curvy bits. I remember how hard my children worked on it, and how they danced with joy when it was finished. What a shame it has now been destroyed by these brutes. Kids today!"

Soon, the same will start to happen to Europe's Classical and Christian architectural heritage, as unscreened muslim "refugees" pour into the West. What began in Syria will sweep into Germany, France, Italy, Greece, and the UK. They will leave a pile of rubble in their wake.

I'm surprised Peru has yet to offer to house the flood of migrants on the slopes of Machu Picchu.

There isn't a god. Please can we just get on with life now?

Personally, I would like to see some major revenge attacks

Bomb their capital for starters

Let them destroy everything so that they may scratch around in the sand.

Nothing new with these terroist Muslim scumbags

Let them destroy everything so that they may scratch around in the sand.

Well we (the USA) sends them weapons and we (the European) buys the oil from their direct supporters so they get fresh money......

I did actually shed a few tears when they started this obscene desecration of our proud collective human history and culture. Their actions in destroying any art, monuments or relics, are shameful beyond words.

This is also a crime against God, no matter which name you choose to give him. If God gave us hands able to build beautiful architecture, sculpture and other art, then surely he is watching us with pride, as we create these beautiful things.

What kind of God would care if the beautiful artistry we create, is created in his honour only. Does ISIS think that God is so insecure? Does ISIS think God needs his name written on every beauitful thing his children create? Surely the fact that God created us, and we are making beautiful things, is testimony to his greatness! If we are God's children, then everything we have created since the first cave-paintings, is always thanks to his greatness. We do not need to attribute everything to God, it is automatically thanks to him, if we believe he is our creator.

This basic logic-path above, is further proof that ISIS is not religious, they do not worship any God, by any name. They are simply criminals who enjoy killing people and blowing things up. They speak for nobody but themselves, and they make all normal human beings ashamed and sorrowful, no matter if those humans are religious or not.

...Just religious license for pure thuggery, as communism was/is political license for the same thing. When mankind descends to this level, it's all down to threat & intimidation regardless of the pretext chosen.

Eventually we will consider Islamic militants in much the same way zombies are considered in popular films. Only one solution apparently.