Islamic State seized full control of both ancient and modern Palmyra in central Syria yesterday, just days after it captured a provincial capital in neighboring Iraq.
The twin successes pile pressure not just on Damascus and Baghdad, but also throws doubt on US strategy to rely almost exclusively on air strikes to defeat the Sunni Muslim movement, which is an offshoot of al Qaeda.
Islamic State said in a statement posted by followers on Twitter that it was in full charge of Palmyra. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said IS now controls more than half of Syrian territory.
The radical group has destroyed antiquities and monuments in Iraq and there are fears it might now devastate Palmyra, an ancient World Heritage site and home to renowned Roman-era ruins including well-preserved temples, colonnades and a theater.
“This is the fall of a civilisation,” Syria’s antiquities chief Maamoun Abdulkarim told Reuters by telephone yesterday.
“Human, civilised society has lost the battle against barbarism. I have lost all hope.”
Clashes in the area since Wednesday killed at least 100 pro-government fighters, said Rami Abdulrahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
