Palmyra’s Roman theatre became the backdrop for Islamic State’s latest massacre when 20 men accused of fighting for the Assad regime were lined up and shot in front of a crowd.
The mass killings on Wednesday came only a day after the group’s commander in the Syrian city, which is home to ruins dating back 20 centuries, vowed not to destroy the monuments but warned that “idolatrous” statues would be targeted.
“Concerning the historical city, we will preserve it and it will not undergo damages, inshallah, but what we will do is pulverise the statues that the miscreants used to pray to,” Abu Laith alSaoudi, the Isis commander in charge of Palmyra, told al-Alwan, a Syrian opposition radio station.
“As for the historical monuments,