The slaughter of Palmyra’s citizens begins: First images emerge from Syrian city over-run by ISIS… and show rows of people beheaded as terror group celebrates freeing Islamists from state prison
- Jihadis have entered 2,000-year-old ruins but no reports of destruction yet
- Seized air base, spy HQ and claimed to have liberated hundreds prisoners
- First time ISIS has claimed city directly from Syrian army and allied forces
- Terror group now controls HALF of all territory in the war-torn country
By Simon Tomlinson for MailOnline
Published: 06:58 GMT, 21 May 2015 | Updated: 16:14 GMT, 21 May 2015
Shocking images emerged today showing decapitated bodies strewn across blood-filled streets in Palmyra – victims of the Islamic State’s unrelenting savagery as they stormed the ancient city.
The terror group have now seized full control of the historic settlement, putting the world heritage site and its priceless 2,000-year-old artefacts at risk of destruction.
The jihadis have also captured the military air base, intelligence headquarters and its notorious prison, where hundreds of inmates have reportedly been liberated.
British-based monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), said ISIS now controlled half of all territory in the war-torn country.
Pro-government forces beat a hasty retreat late last night after 100 fighters were slaughtered in violent clashes in just a few hours.
It is the first time ISIS has claimed a city directly from the Syrian army and allied forces, which have already lost ground in the northwest and south to other insurgent groups in recent weeks.
Beibares Tellawi, an activist in Homs province, said the militants had reached Tadmur prison, where thousands of Syrian dissidents have been imprisoned and tortured over the years.
The fate of the prisoners was not immediately known, although pro-ISIS Twitter accounts shared a image claiming to show inmates celebrating with militants after being set free.
The jihadis have also seized control of the Jazl oil field in the Homs countryside.
Government war planes responded by carrying out air strikes on ISIS positions in the city.
Rami Abdulrahman, the head of SOHR, who bases his information on a network of sources on the ground, said there were so far no reports of destruction of the city’s historic artefacts.
The city is home to a UNESCO World Heritage site, including ancient temples and colonnaded streets, which previously attracted thousands of tourists.
Syria’s antiquities chief said previously the insurgents would destroy ancient ruins if they took control of it.
He said the group was in control of a hospital in the city which Syrian forces had used as a base before withdrawing.
‘The situation is very bad,’ Syria’s antiquities chief, Mamoun Abdulkarim, said after ISIS captured a northern section of the city earlier in the day.
‘If only five members of ISIS go into the ancient buildings, they’ll destroy everything,’ he added, calling for international action to save the city.
Syrian state TV reported that pro-government forces had managed to secure safe exit for most of the civilian population.
The jihadists sparked international outrage this year when they blew up the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud and smashed artefacts in the museum of Mosul, both in Iraq.
Hundreds of statues and artefacts from Palmyra’s museum have been transferred out of the city, according to Abdulkarim, but many others – including massive tombs – could not be moved.
News of Palmyra’s fall came after a State Department official said the weekend loss of Ramadi had prompted the U.S take an ‘extremely hard look’ at its strategy to confront the extremists.
The fall of Ramadi, their most significant victory since mid-2014 when they conquered swathes of land, sparked a US-led air campaign to support Baghdad.
On Wednesday, the Anbar police chief was dismissed, after video footage emerged online suggesting security personnel deserted their posts at the height of the ISIS offensive.
The militants’ gains have sparked international concerns, with France pledging Wednesday to host high-level international talks next month in Paris over the threat posed by IS.
Middle East expert Hassan Hassan, writing in the Foreign Policy magazine, warned the fall of the Ramadi ‘marks a dangerous new phase of the war’ and would have a ‘ripple effect across both the Syrian and Iraqi battlefields’.
The U.S. official said Washington would step up its aid to Iraq, including sending 1,000 anti-tank missile systems to help stop suicide car bombs and accelerating its training and equipping of tribal forces to fight ISIS.
‘You’d have to be delusional not to take something like this and say: ‘What went wrong, how do you fix it and how do we correct course to go from here?’,’ the official told reporters.
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Activist group says ISIL now controls half of Syria
Syrian Observatory says group now in control of 95,000 sq km of land, as Palmyra residents report worsening conditions.
Doha, Qatar – The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has captured Syria’s ancient city of Palmyra, giving them control of almost half of the country, according to a monitoring group.
Located in central Homs province and in the heart of Syria, Palmyra lies 210km northeast of Damascus in desert that stretches to the Iraqi frontier to the east.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Thursday that ISIL now controls approximately 95,000 sq km of land in nine out of 14 provinces since they declared their alleged caliphate – which puts them in control of almost half of the country.
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| Lining up for water in Palmyra on Thursday [Nasser/Al Jazeera] |
The Syrian government previously lost the town of Bosra in Deraa province to ISIL in March, which had also been declared by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
In April, ISIL managed to capture and control most of Yarmouk, which is 8km away from the centre of Damascus. Yarmouk is mostly inhabited by Palestinian refugees.
Activists in Palmyra, who requested anonymity, told Al Jazeera that ISIL took full control of the city on Wednesday evening and people were trying to escape, with many left stranded on the streets.
“ISIL have infiltrated the city overnight. Power is down and we barely have any electricity or water. There is fear among residents and we do not know what to expect next,” one activist said.
“The Syrian regime have bombed several targets for ISIL since last night, but air strikes also targeted two mosques in the city – Othman Bin Affan and al-Iman mosques. Several people have been killed and others injured.
| Nasser, a local activist, describes the current situation in Palmyra |
| ISIL has captured Palmyra’s prison, weapon stores, government buildings, the local museum and central bank.Prisoners were evacuated days beforehand and relocated to Damascus and Homs.ISIL captured the towns of al-Sekhna and al-Amirya.
No non-governmental organisations are operating in Palmyra and locals are in desperate need of aid and medical supplies. |
“Hospitals and clinics are being bombed too. There are not enough medical supplies or doctors to treat the injured.”
Activists and journalists working at the Palmyra Media Centre made it clear to Al Jazeera that they were incapable of leaving their homes.
Nasser, a journalist in Palmyra, told Al Jazeera that residents in the city could not leave and government forces offered no way out.
“There are almost 170,000 people here, including 50,000 internally displaced people from Homs and Der Ezzor,” he said.
“ISIL is hated by residents here and labelled terrorists. ISIL will not treat us any different than those elsewhere in areas they control. This is a new siege.”
At least 462 people were killed since ISIL’s offensive began on Palmyra on May 13, the Syrian Observatory reported.
ISIL now controls the vast majority of the gas and oil fields in Syria and were able to capture two gas fields around Palmyra since they launched their attack on Palmyra, the Syrian Observatory reported, leaving the only government-held gas fields in the suburbs of Homs and al-Hasakah out of its control.
Apart from being a historical and World Heritage site that dates back to the 1st and 2nd century AD, capturing Palmyra means ISIL have control over areas that stretch to the Syrian-Iraqi border.
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| Palmyra’s north after ISIL’s takeover on Thursday [Nasser/Al Jazeera] |
ISIL previously looted and destroyed artefacts in Iraq, and have reportedly destroyed historic temples and statues in areas it controls in Syria and Iraq.
Officials say they have also looted and sold artefacts to fund their operations.
Syrian state TV said the army retreated after they secured the evacuation of most residents in Palmyra to save them from ISIL “brutality”, acknowledging that ISIL entered the city in large numbers.
Maamoun Abdulkareem, director-general of Museums and Antiquities in Syria, said on Wednesday that ISIL’s attack on Palmyra is “revenge on Syrian society and civilisation”.
“We hoped the international community wouldn’t fail to defend Palmyra, but we didn’t see any actual reaction from them,” Abdulkareem said.
Hundreds of statues and ancient artefacts from Palmyra’s museum have already been transferred out of the city, he said.