This photo form 1999 shows the Palmyra ruins in Syria. The site is under threat from ISIL.(Photo: Barbara Slavin, USA TODAY)
The Islamic State seized control Thursday of buildings in the outskirts of Palmyra, Syria, according to reports.
Palmyra, also known as Tadmur, is home to ancient ruins dating back 2,000 years. ISIL
destroyed and damaged artifacts and historic landmarks in Iraq, and there is concern the group will also seek to damage the Palmyra ruins.
"If (ISIL) enters Palmyra, it will spell its destruction," Syria's antiquities director Maamoun Abdulkarim
told Agence France-Presse.
"If the ancient city falls, it will be an international catastrophe. It will be a repetition of the barbarism and savagery which we saw in Nimrud, Hatra and Mosul," he said.
USA TODAY
Closer look at artifacts ISIL is destroying
Palmyra is
listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. UNESCO, or United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, is a United Nations agency that works to protect cultural sites.
See photos of the Palmyra ruins
The organization released a statement Thursday from general director Irina Bokova saying the ruins are in "imminent danger" and calling for an immediate end to fighting near the site.
"Palmyra represents a unique relic of the first century AD, and a masterpiece of architecture and Roman urbanism, with its famous colonnaded main street and the temple of Baal, one of the most important cultural monuments the entire region," the statement said.
See artifacts ISIL destroyed and damaged in Iraq
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