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NEW: ISIS captures Syrian border post, now controls all Syrian stations on border with Iraq
A Palmyra resident says ISIS fighters went door-to-door in conquered Syrian city
ISIS lauds fighters for "liberating" Palmyra and taking over a prison and military base
CNN
—
“They are everywhere.”
That’s a 26-year-old Syrian’s stark observation about ISIS fighters in Palmyra, detailing the terrorist group’s swift, destructive takeover of yet another city in the brutal quest to expand its caliphate in the Middle East.
The capture of Syria’s ancient city threatens a UNESCO World Heritage Site described as having “stood at the crossroads of several civilizations,” with its art and architecture mixing Greek, Roman and Persian influences, according to that U.N. group.
U.N. and Syrian officials have expressed fears that ISIS will destroy the ruins, just as it flattened the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud and smashed statues in Iraq’s Mosul Museum.
But Palmyra, also known as Tadmur, isn’t just a historical site. It’s home to tens of thousands of people, many of whom fear they’ll meet the same fate as others ISIS has conquered.
They’re people like the 26-year-old who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution. He’s huddled in a house with 50 others, including his family and neighbors who have lost their homes, and he’s worried food will run out while his city is under curfew.
After at least 100 Syrian soldiers died in fighting overnight, Syrian warplanes carried out airstrikes Thursday in and around Palmyra, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported. But there’s no indication that Syrian ground forces will try to take back the city, 150 miles northeast of Damascus, the capital. Nor that any other countries such as the United States will come to the rescue.
“The world does not care about us,” the Palmyra resident said. “All they are interested in is the stones of ancient Palmyra.”
‘I want to die in my city’
After days of regular sparring, ISIS fighters made a big push early Thursday, and Syrian government forces retreated, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which is monitoring the conflict.
“ISIS has taken the prison of Palmyra, the intelligence headquarters, everything,” said the executive director of that London-based group, Rami Abdurrahman.
In a daily news bulletin, ISIS credited its fighters with “completely liberating” the city and taking over the prison and a nearby military airbase. It said this assault left “several dead soldiers behind,” and it tweeted photos claiming to be from Palmyra that showed bloodied bodies of men who weren’t in uniform.
ISIS militants killed at least 17 people in Palmyra, the observatory reported, saying some deaths were beheadings. CNN is not able to confirm this report independently.
The Sunni Muslim jihadists spent much of Thursday implementing a curfew and going door-to-door, apparently looking for Syrian soldiers, according to the 26-year-old. He said eight ISIS fighters went through his house and were “trying to appear friendly.”
Civil war broke out four years ago in Syria, providing an opening for groups such as ISIS to emerge and take on forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. With its latest offensive, ISIS controls more than half the country – in parts of 10 of 14 provinces – as well as “the vast majority of the gas and oil fields,” the observatory estimates.
Fueled by its success in Syria, the militant group also has captured swaths of neighboring Iraq, including its second-largest city, Mosul. This week, ISIS seized the key city of Ramadi, a milestone that a U.S. State Department official acknowledged is a major blow in coalition efforts to defeat ISIS.
Thursday it took over the last Syria-Iraq border crossing that was under the control of Syrian troops, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The Tunef border crossing fell under ISIS control after Syrian regime troops withdrew, the activist group reported. ISIS also controls the Al Waleed border station on the Iraqi side.
But despite ISIS advances, the Palmyra resident who talked to CNN isn’t ready to walk away, even to save his life.
“I did not feel safe four years ago,” he said. “But (still now), I do not want to leave. I want to die in my city.”
Historian: ‘Couldn’t be higher stakes’
The fall of Palmyra spurred condemnation worldwide, leading to tweets that used #SavePalmyra.
“Am screaming #SavePalmyra out of sheer despair,” an activist wrote, “as I dont know who this scream is directed to or what anyone can do.”
ISIS has conquered many other parts of Syria and Iraq. But Palmyra stands out for its history.
The city already was a caravan oasis when the Romans overtook it in the middle of the first century. Its importance grew on a trade route linking the Roman Empire to Persia, India and China.
British historian and novelist Tom Holland has described Palmyra as “an extraordinary fusion of classical and Iranian influences intermixed with various Arab influence as well.”
Extensive destruction of Palmyra wouldn’t just be a tragedy for Syria. It would be a loss for the world, Holland said.
“Mesopotamia, Iraq, Syria, this is the wellspring of global civilization,” he said. “It really couldn’t be higher stakes in terms of conservation.”
Will centuries-old artifacts be destroyed or sold?
Syria already has seen its storied past damaged and destroyed by war.
Notable casualties include 11th-century Crusader castle Crac des Chevaliers; regime airstrikes severely damaged its walls in 2013. Aleppo’s covered market, a formerly thriving part of Syria’s economic and social life, was severely damaged in a fire in 2012.
ISIS is “distinctive and horrendous” in how it treats history, Holland said.Syrian antiquities chief Maamoun Abdulkarim said the group poses “the biggest danger” now to his country’s artifacts.
“In general, ISIS attacks people first for control,” Abdulkarim said. “Second, they attack heritage by destroying for propaganda and ideological reasons. And (third), they work with the mafia to sell the artifacts.”
The Syrian government says it has moved many artifacts, including hundreds of statues, to safer locations. But it can’t relocate an entire archaeological site.
“We consider this … a culture battle for humanity and all the world,” Abdulkarim said. “Palmyra is very important in the minds of the Syrian people and also the international community. Now we are very afraid.”
Before: The ruins of the 2,000-year-old Temple of Baalshamin are seen in Palmyra, Syria, in 2007. The ISIS militant group took over the ancient city last year and razed parts of its World Heritage Site. Syrian government forces recaptured the ancient city from the terror group in March 2016. Click through to see the landmarks before and after ISIS' occupation.
DEA/G.DAGLI ORTI/De Agostini/Getty Images
After: A Syrian government soldier walks near what's left of the Temple of Baalshamin on Sunday, March 27. Syrian forces retook the city days before, but damage had already been done by ISIS. UNESCO says it plans to evaluate the extent of Palmyra's damage soon. Many of the structures -- which date from the first and second centuries and marry Greco-Roman techniques with local traditions and Persian influences -- remain in place, bolstering hopes that ISIS didn't completely raze the world heritage site.
Valery Sharifulin\TASS via Getty Images
Before: The Arch of Triumph in 2006.
Raphael GAILLARDE/GAMMA/Getty Images
After: The Arch of Triumph on March 27.
Valery Sharifulin\TASS via Getty Images
Before: The Temple of Bel in 2008.
DEA/C. SAPPA/De Agostini/Getty Images
After: The Temple of Bel on March 27.
Valery Sharifulin\TASS via Getty Images
Destroyed statues are seen inside the damaged Palmyra Museum on March 27.
SANA via AP
Many statues in the museum had their faces chipped off -- in keeping with strict Sharia interpretations of the depiction of human forms.
SANA via AP
Before ISIS invaded, authorities took what they could from the museum. But larger items and those fixed to walls had to be left behind.
SANA via AP
Destroyed statues inside the Palmyra Museum.
SANA via AP
The Syrian directorate-general of antiquities and monuments was positive that the condition of artifacts meant that they could be restored and their "historic value" returned, according to a translation of an article on the department's website.
SANA via AP
ISIS took over Palmyra in May.
SANA via AP
By June, ISIS began destroying historical sites.
SANA via AP
Damage inside the Palmyra Museum.
SANA via AP
Palmyra was a caravan oasis when Romans overtook it in the mid-first century. In the centuries that followed, the area "stood at the crossroads of several civilizations" with its art and architecture mixing Greek, Roman and Persian influences, according to UNESCO.
SANA via AP
How ISIS ravaged Palmyra's world treasures
CNN’s Jethro Mullen, Merieme Arif, Christina Zdanowicz, Fred Pleitgen, Brian Walker, Jason Hanna and Ivan Watson contributed to this report.