Historic Syrian Site Endangered By ISIS

Published May 21, 2015 at 1:12 PM EDT

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This photo released on Sunday, May 17, 2015, by the Syrian official news agency SANA, shows the general view of the ancient Roman city of Palmyra, northeast of Damascus, Syria. When Islamic State fighters routed Syrian government forces and took control of the ruins of Palmyra Thursday, May 21, 2015 morning, the ancient city became the latest archaeological heritage site to fall into the hands of the militant group. (SANA via AP)

Militants with the self-proclaimed Islamic State overran the famed archaeological site at Palmyra early today, just hours after seizing the central Syrian town.

Palmyra is a Unesco World Heritage site and there are concerns the extremists might destroy some of the priceless ruins, as they have done in neighboring Iraq.

The Islamic State’s capture of the town of Palmyra late yesterday was a stunning triumph for the militant group, only days after it captured the strategic city of Ramadi in Iraq’s largest Sunni province.

Guest

Amr Al-Azm, associate professor of anthropology and Middle Eastern history at Shawnee State University in Ohio. He’s also the former director of the science and conservation laboratories at the Department of Antiquities in Syria. He tweets @alazmamr.