Damascus, Aug 24 (IANS): The Islamic State (IS) militants blew up an ancient temple in Syria's Palmyra city, a media report said.
Temple of Baal Shamin or "Lord of the Heavens" was blown up by the IS militants, who rigged it with large quantities of explosives before sending it up in flames, Xinhua reported on Monday quoting the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The temple is located just meters away from the famous Roman Theatre at Palmyra.
The UK-based watchdog group cited information and narratives by people who escaped Palmyra as stating that the detonation of the temple happened a month ago.
Palmyra contains the monumental ruins of a great city that was one of the most important cultural centres of the ancient world.