ISIS Seize Palmyra and control 50% of Syrian territory

Thursday, May 21, 2015

(ISIS) entered Palmyra, a city in the Syrian included in the UNESCO world heritage site.
With control of this city and its neighboring city of Tadmur, ISIS has taken over 50% of Syrian territory, according to the research organization Human Rights Watch Syria.

Tadmur city is important for ISIS, because there are large gas fields there, "said a researcher at the organization who identified himself as Ahmad.
"Actually ISIS now control almost the entire oil and gas fields in Syria. Only one gas field that has not been controlled by ISIS," he added.

This is the first time they managed to directly seize the town with densely populated, directly from the hands of pro-government troops. Until now, there has not reported the destruction of historic sites in Palmyra.

BBC correspondent in Beirut expressed concerns regarding the destruction of Palmyra
The ruins of the old town is located in a strategic position, between the capital Damascus contested eastern region, the city of Deir al-Zour.

Palmyra is considered an important achievement of ancient civilizations in the Middle East, because it was built with a different style than any other cities of the Roman Empire.

Such as Venice, the city is forming a base for trafficking network. However, the sea in Palmyra is desert, and the boat over there was a camel. Only a fraction of the city's sites which have been excavated. Most of the archaeological remains are still buried under the ground, and too fragile to be extracted.

If the city is destroyed by ISIS, an important chapter history of the Middle East will be lost by this tragic conflict.

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