This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/21/world/middleeast/syria-isis-fighters-enter-ancient-city-of-palmyra.html
The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| ISIS Fighters Enter Syrian City of Palmyra, Nearing Ancient Ruins | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| BEIRUT, Lebanon — Islamic State fighters fought their way into a part of the central Syrian city of Palmyra on Wednesday, bringing them within blocks of one of the world’s most magnificent ancient sites. | BEIRUT, Lebanon — Islamic State fighters fought their way into a part of the central Syrian city of Palmyra on Wednesday, bringing them within blocks of one of the world’s most magnificent ancient sites. |
| As they have swept across Syria and Iraq, the extremists have destroyed or damaged numerous ancient sites and major cultural artifacts, condemning them as idolatry, even as they pillage and sell off more portable items to finance their activities. The militants’ approach to the ruins of ancient Palmyra, with their grand 2,000-year-old colonnades and tombs, has raised fears both locally and internationally that they too may be destroyed. | As they have swept across Syria and Iraq, the extremists have destroyed or damaged numerous ancient sites and major cultural artifacts, condemning them as idolatry, even as they pillage and sell off more portable items to finance their activities. The militants’ approach to the ruins of ancient Palmyra, with their grand 2,000-year-old colonnades and tombs, has raised fears both locally and internationally that they too may be destroyed. |
| Modern Palmyra, also known as Tadmur, is a relatively remote desert outpost of 50,000 people, but it sits astride the main road from the Islamic State strongholds in the east to the more populous west of Syria. It is also near gas fields that the militant group has repeatedly attacked, and last week managed to partially seize. Syrian government forces held the militants out of the city for several days, but withdrew from some checkpoints on Wednesday, residents said. | Modern Palmyra, also known as Tadmur, is a relatively remote desert outpost of 50,000 people, but it sits astride the main road from the Islamic State strongholds in the east to the more populous west of Syria. It is also near gas fields that the militant group has repeatedly attacked, and last week managed to partially seize. Syrian government forces held the militants out of the city for several days, but withdrew from some checkpoints on Wednesday, residents said. |
| The fact that the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS or ISIL, has been able to advance into Palmyra, five days after seizing Ramadi, in the Iraqi province of Anbar, demonstrates its ability to carry out complex operations simultaneously on multiple fronts, in the face of pitched resistance on the ground and from the air. | The fact that the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS or ISIL, has been able to advance into Palmyra, five days after seizing Ramadi, in the Iraqi province of Anbar, demonstrates its ability to carry out complex operations simultaneously on multiple fronts, in the face of pitched resistance on the ground and from the air. |
| In battles overnight, the militants captured several important locations in the northern part of Palmyra, including two security facilities and the public central bakery, according to local anti-government activists. | In battles overnight, the militants captured several important locations in the northern part of Palmyra, including two security facilities and the public central bakery, according to local anti-government activists. |
| Khaled al-Homsi, an activist who opposes both the government and the Islamic State and closely monitors the Palmyra ruins, said that government workers removed artifacts from the museum near the site on Wednesday, and that other objects were taken away earlier for safekeeping. Syria’s chief antiquities official told Reuters that hundreds of statues had been relocated. | Khaled al-Homsi, an activist who opposes both the government and the Islamic State and closely monitors the Palmyra ruins, said that government workers removed artifacts from the museum near the site on Wednesday, and that other objects were taken away earlier for safekeeping. Syria’s chief antiquities official told Reuters that hundreds of statues had been relocated. |
| He said that in recent days, strikes by Syrian government warplanes had come dangerously close to the site’s medieval citadel. Islamic State fighters were moving farther into the modern city on Wednesday afternoon, he said, but had not yet reached the ancient site. | He said that in recent days, strikes by Syrian government warplanes had come dangerously close to the site’s medieval citadel. Islamic State fighters were moving farther into the modern city on Wednesday afternoon, he said, but had not yet reached the ancient site. |
| “I’m here and still breathing,” he said in a text message. | “I’m here and still breathing,” he said in a text message. |
| The city, whose Tadmur prison is notorious for the torture of political detainees, was partly held for a time earlier in the Syrian civil war by non-Islamic State rebel fighters, before the Islamic State was a major factor in the conflict. More recently, though, the city has been in government hands, and the relatively moderate Syrian insurgents have no presence there, leaving some opponents of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria in the odd position of hoping his troops can succeed in protecting the site. | The city, whose Tadmur prison is notorious for the torture of political detainees, was partly held for a time earlier in the Syrian civil war by non-Islamic State rebel fighters, before the Islamic State was a major factor in the conflict. More recently, though, the city has been in government hands, and the relatively moderate Syrian insurgents have no presence there, leaving some opponents of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria in the odd position of hoping his troops can succeed in protecting the site. |
| The symbolism of the ruins has been claimed by several sides in Syria’s multifront war. Local rebels once called themselves Sons of Zenobia, referring to an ancient queen of Palmyra, and some government troops have vowed in social media posts that “Zenobia will never fall.” | The symbolism of the ruins has been claimed by several sides in Syria’s multifront war. Local rebels once called themselves Sons of Zenobia, referring to an ancient queen of Palmyra, and some government troops have vowed in social media posts that “Zenobia will never fall.” |
| International antiquities officials have said that it would be catastrophic if the ruins, which stand as a crossroads of ancient Greek, Roman, Persian and Islamic cultures, were to be destroyed or damaged. | International antiquities officials have said that it would be catastrophic if the ruins, which stand as a crossroads of ancient Greek, Roman, Persian and Islamic cultures, were to be destroyed or damaged. |
| At the same time, residents lament that more attention has been focused on the threat to the ruins than on the plight of the 50,000 residents and tens of thousands of displaced people in and around Palmyra. There have been reports that Islamic State fighters massacred captive soldiers and civilians in outlying villages last week. | At the same time, residents lament that more attention has been focused on the threat to the ruins than on the plight of the 50,000 residents and tens of thousands of displaced people in and around Palmyra. There have been reports that Islamic State fighters massacred captive soldiers and civilians in outlying villages last week. |
| Several Palmyra residents said on Wednesday that they were staying indoors and hoping to remain neutral. | Several Palmyra residents said on Wednesday that they were staying indoors and hoping to remain neutral. |