BEIRUT // The extremist group ISIL has destroyed part of an ancient temple in Syria’s Palmyra city, a group monitoring the conflict said on Sunday.
The militants targeted the Temple of Bel, a Roman-era structure in the central desert city, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
› Watch the video here: ISIL destroys part of ancient Syrian temple
It is the second temple ISIL has targeted in Palmyra this month. The group detonated explosives in the ancient Baal Shamin temple on August 25, an act that cultural agency Unesco has called a war crime aimed at wiping out a symbol of Syria’s diverse cultural heritage.
The extent of the damage at the Temple of Bel was not known, the Observatory said, citing its contacts on the ground.
Activists on social media also reported the destruction at the temple, one of Palmyra’s most important structures.
ISIL seized Palmyra in May from government forces in a sudden offensive and is tightly controlling communications in the city, according to activists.
The group, which has proclaimed a caliphate in territory it holds across Syria and Iraq, has regularly demolished monuments it considers sacrilegious as well as carrying out mass killings.
This month the group beheaded the 82-year-old Syrian archaeologist who had looked after Palmyra’s ruins for four decades, and hung his body in public, according to Syria’s antiquities chief.
* Reuters
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Abdul Jabar Qahraman was meeting supporters in his campaign office in the southern Afghan province of Helmand when a bomb hidden under a sofa exploded on Wednesday.
The blast in the provincial capital Lashkar Gah killed the Afghan election candidate and at least another three people, Interior Minister Wais Ahmad Barmak told reporters. Another three were wounded, while three suspects were detained, he said.
The Taliban – which controls much of Helmand and has vowed to disrupt the October 20 parliamentary elections – claimed responsibility for the attack.
Mr Qahraman was at least the 10th candidate killed so far during the campaign season, and the second from Lashkar Gah this month. Another candidate, Saleh Mohammad Asikzai, was among eight people killed in a suicide attack last week. Most of the slain candidates were murdered in targeted assassinations, including Avtar Singh Khalsa, the first Afghan Sikh to run for the lower house of the parliament.
The same week the Taliban warned candidates to withdraw from the elections. On Wednesday the group issued fresh warnings, calling on educational workers to stop schools from being used as polling centres.
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Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
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Number of tracks: 10
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