IS terrified by history: Unesco

Russian Federation said on Saturday it would step up it air strikes in Syria, where a U.S.-led coalition of Western and Arab forces has been waging a year-long air campaign against Islamic State and across the border in neighboring Iraq. It is the third major Roman-era architecture destroyed by the terrorist group since it took control of the city in May. The government’s head of the Antiquities and Museums Department Maamoun Abdul-Karim called for taking back the city, “quickly”.

The arch was the best-known symbol of the ancient city. It sits atop the colonnaded street that runs across Palmyra.

The Arch of Triumph, built by Septimius Severus between 193 and 211 AD has been described by the United Nations cultural agency, UNESCO as a masterpiece of civil architecture and urban planning.

“This is a systematic destruction of the city”. They want to raze it completely, ” he told the Daily Mail.

In a statement posted on its official Facebook page, the presidency said the IS destroyed the arch “to avenge the light that disrupted their ignorance and darkness…”

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Palmyra, which linked the Roman Empire to Persia and the East, is said to have been one of the most important cultural centres of the ancient world.

In a statement, the group said ISIS’ latest move only shows that they are “terrified” of history because a deeper understanding of the events in the past will only prove that their acts of violence are unjustified.

Irina Bokova, the director general of Unesco, said the world had been “stunned” by the scale of the destruction of historically and culturally significant sites by Islamist terror groups over the past few years.

A file photo of tourists walking near the famous Arch of Triumph of the ancient oasis city of Palmyra.

The group considers the buildings sacrilegious.

Experts say the group destroys ancient sites in part for propaganda value, grabbing headlines and attracting potential recruits.

Syria’s army has advanced towards Palmyra from the west in recent months, but experts have warned any attack by regime forces could only speed up IS’s destruction of its remaining treasures.

A view shows the Monumental Arch in the historical city of Palmyra, Syria, August 5, 2010.