IS destroy ancient temples in Palmyra

Islamic State militants have destroyed Palmyra's ancient temple of Baalshamin, Syrian officials and activists have said.

Syria's head of antiquities was quoted saying the temple was blown up on Sunday, but the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) had reported that it happened a month ago.

IS, which took control of Palmyra in May, which is famed for its well-preserved Greco-Roman ruins, had sparked fears that the group might demolish the Unesco World Heritage site, after the group has destroyed several ancient sites in Iraq.

IS "placed a large quantity of explosives in the temple of Baalshamin today [Sunday] and then blew it up causing much damage to the temple," Syrian antiquities chief Maamoun Abdulkarim told AFP news agency.

"The cella (inner area of the temple) was destroyed and the columns around collapsed," he added.

Residents who had fled from Palmyra also said IS had planted explosives at the temple, although they had done it about a month ago, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The BBC reports that the temple built nearly 2,000 years ago was primarily a Roman era artefact, dedicated to the Phoenician god of storms and fertilising rains.

Last month, IS published photos of militants destroying what it said were artefacts looted at Palmyra, and last week, it emerged that the archaeologist who had looked after Palmyra's ruins for four decades had been beheaded by the militant group.

Abdulkarim said the 81-year-old had refused to tell IS where some treasures had been hidden to try and save them.

The modern city of Palmyra - known locally as Tadmur - is situated in a strategically important area on the road between the Syrian capital, Damascus, and the eastern city of Deir al-Zour, the BBC adds. Nearby, the monumental ruins of the ancient city rise out of the desert. Unesco and others regard the site as one of the most important cultural centres of the ancient world.

IS has had a strong history of attacks on cultural heritage sites including when the group ransacked the central library in the Iraqi city of Mosul, burning thousands of books, in January, the destruction of ancient artefacts at the central museum in Mosul, in February and the use of explosives and bulldozers on Nimrud, one of Iraq's greatest archaeological treasures in March, which was closely followed by the  destruction of ruins at Hatra among others.