The Islamic State group (ISIS) on Tuesday released pictures showing the demolition of the 2,000-year-old Baalshamin temple at the UNESCO world heritage site of Palmyra in Syria.
The series of pictures, published on ISIS-affiliated social media accounts, showed militants placing explosives in the temple and on its outside columns, according to AFP.
The images also showed a large explosion as the temple was blown up. A last picture showed a pile of rubble at the temple site, reported CNN.
"The complete destruction of the pagan Baalshamin temple," caption of one of pictures read.
I was just contacted by a local from #Palmyra. He tells me "ppl are sad by #IS destruction of temple. But no one dares 2 say a word" @akhbar
— Jenan Moussa (@jenanmoussa) August 25, 2015
#ISIS 's reprehensible destruction of the #Palmyra temple in 4 alarming shots pic.twitter.com/HYLQuzoZzb — Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) August 25, 2015
The Temple of Baalshamin #Palmyra was expanded under Hadrian's reign in 130 AD, one year after his visit to the city. pic.twitter.com/aq7t2Ngfu4
— Following Hadrian (@carolemadge) August 24, 2015
The Sunni jihadists blew up Palmyra's Baalshamin temple on Sunday, HNGN reported previously. The Baalshamin temple, considered the second most important structure at Palmyra, was built nearly 2,000 years ago.
"All of my memories were torn to shreds; I lost a part of my being. It felt like my family home had been burned down. I felt insulted before this criminal act and our powerlessness and the powerlessness of the international community to stop it," Maamoun Abdulkarim, Syria's antiquities chief, said confirming the destruction of temple, according to The Guardian.
ISIS's destruction of Roman-era temple in Palmyra drew international condemnation.
"Such acts are war crimes and their perpetrators must be accountable for their actions," UNESCO director general Irina Bokova said in a statement on Monday.
"The systematic destruction of cultural symbols embodying Syrian cultural diversity reveals the true intent of such attacks, which is to deprive the Syrian people of its knowledge, its identity and history," said Bokova.
The demolition of Baalshamin temple came few days after the ISIS militants beheaded 83-year-old Palmyra antiquities chief Khalid al-Asaad publicly and hung up his headless body on a column at a public square.
