Damascus: Daesh fighters have entered the museum in the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra, placing guards at its doors, the country’s antiquities director Mamoun Abdul Karim said Saturday.
He also confirmed that the militant group had raised their flag over the ancient citadel that overlooks some of the spectacular Greco-Roman ruins in the city.
Speaking at a press conference in Damascus, Abdul Karim said some modern plaster statues in the museum had been destroyed but he did not report any damage to antiquities in the building.
The militants on Thursday “entered the museum and broke some plaster statues... that were being used to represent life in prehistoric eras.”
They returned on Friday, and when they left, “they closed the doors behind them and placed their guards” at the entrance of the museum, Abdul Karim said, citing residents still in the town.
Most of the antiquities in the museum were removed and brought to Damascus before Daesh cemented its control of Palmyra on Thursday.
“There’s almost nothing left in the museum, we had been progressively transferring the antiquities to Damascus,” he said after the press conference.
“But there are still the large items, like the sarcophagi, which weigh three or four tonnes and we could not move, those are what worry me.”
The Roman-Byzantine sarcophagi feature high-relief carvings.
Abdul Karim also confirmed that Daesh fighters had raised their black flag over the 13th century Mamluk Fakhr al-Din al-Maani citadel that overlooks the ruins of Palmyra.
Earlier, a photograph purporting to show the Daesh flag over the citadel was circulated on social media, but it was not possible to confirm its authenticity.