IS mines Palmyra’s ruins with explosives to prevent Syrian recapture

Islamic State fighters have mined with explosives the Graeco-Roman ruins of Palmyra, a 2,000-year-old Unesco world heritage site, according to Syria's director of antiquities.

Although IS commander Abu Laith al-Saoudi has pledged to preserve the spectacular ruins, explosives could be used to destroy them them if the Syrian army tries to recapture Palmyra.

Unconvinced by Saoudi's assurance, Dr Maamoun Abdulkarim warned that Syria's most important "archaeological city" could suffer IS's "methodical vandalism and destruction" wreaked on the ancient sites at Hatra and Nimrud near Mosul in northern Iraq. He called upon residents of nearby Tadmor, which has also been captured by IS fighters, to protect Palmyra.

Abdulkarim revealed that IS insurgents had already levelled the mausoleum of Muhamed bin Ali, revered as a descendent of the Prophet Muhammad's cousin, and the 500-year-old tomb of Nizar Abu Bahaaeddine, a religious figure from Palmyra. IS has destroyed another 50 tombs – 100-200 years old – in eastern Syria. "They consider [them] to be against their beliefs, and they ban all visits to these sites," said Abdulkarim.

Heritage erased

IS elements have also destroyed gravestones in the local cemetery, following a practice adopted and exported by

Saudi Arabia

, the font of ultra-puritan Wahhabism. The

nom de guerre

of the IS commander in Palmyra indicates he is a Saudi.

Palmyra has survived 1,400 years of Muslim rule since its capture in 634 AD by Khalid ibn Walid, a companion of the Prophet Muhammad. Nevertheless, IS rejects his approach in favour of the Saudi line.

Determined to erase venerated statues, tombs, and buildings that detract from the focus on God, the Saudis have destroyed their historical sites, including Islam’s first mosque on the outskirts of Medina and the Meccan home of Khadija, the prophet’s first wife and first convert. His birthplace in Mecca and tomb in Medina are rumoured to be under threat.

During its war on Yemen, Saudi airstrikes have destroyed ancient multi-storied houses in Sanaa's Old City and the ottoman-era Owrdhi compound outside the walled city, as well as the 1,200-year-old Mosque of Imam al-Hadi in Saada, a rebel stronghold. North of Sanaa, the rock palace, an emblem of Yemen's rich civilisation, was also targeted.

Sites wiped out

Ideology combined with development has wiped out 98 per cent of Saudi historical and religious sites since 1985, according to an estimate by London’s

Islamic Heritage Research Foundation

. Much of the recent destruction has taken place in Mecca – to make way for hotels to attract wealthy pilgrims.

The Saudi government has dismissed criticism and resisted efforts to preserve the kingdom’s ancient and Islamic heritage. The kingdom’s oil wealth has enabled it to project its puritan ideology around the world by building mosques and schools and staffing them with Saudi-trained clerics, converting Muslims to the Saudi brand and prompting both Arabs and non-Arabs to journey to Syria and Iraq where they have no connection with local heritage.

For foreign jihadis, Palmyra, Hatra, and Nimrud are simply high-profile ruins that generate global headlines when demolished.

The IS campaign against heritage is even more insidious on local levels than against major sites. US archaeologist Michael Danti told Science Now that IS has been systematically destroying churches, mosques, schools and other religious and cultural sites with the aim of depriving communities of their heritage and making them less resistant to IS rule.

“People turn to heritage all over the world as a way to define themselves . . . so [IS] tries to wipe that out,” he said.