UN chief appalled by 'barbaric' attacks in Palmyra | Inquirer News

UN chief appalled by ‘barbaric’ attacks in Palmyra

/ 07:11 AM August 25, 2015

Ban Ki-moon

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. AP FILE PHOTO

UNITED NATIONS, United States–UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Monday he was appalled by reports that Islamic State militants had demolished a temple in Syria’s ancient Palmyra.

IS fighters packed explosives in the Baal Shamin temple and blew up the shrine on Sunday, Syria’s antiquities chief said.

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Ban also voiced outrage over the murder of Khaled al-Assaad, the retired chief archeologist at Palmyra whose body was mutilated after he was beheaded on August 18.

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“These barbaric acts of terror join a long list of crimes committed over the past four years in Syria against its civilian population and heritage,” Ban said in a statement.

Palmyra is listed as a world heritage site by the UN cultural body UNESCO, and Ban recalled that destroying world cultural sites was a war crime.

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The UN chief called on world governments to “unite and act swiftly to put a stop to this terrorist activity.”

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TAGS: Conflict, heritage, Syria

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