New victim of Islamic group ISIS, former chief of antiquities in ancient city of Palmyra beheaded.
Antiquities Khaled al-Asaad, 82-year-old Syrian archaeologist beheaded by known violent group, ISIS. He was the latest victim of the said group, a man who heads antiquities for more than 40 years in the ancient city of Palmyra. On 18 August 2015, he was executed in the modern city of Tadmur, an next to the ancient city of Palmyra.
Asaad was among the captured victims during the ancient city of Palmyra came under the control of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, May 2015. Antiquities Khaled al-Asaad beheaded by the group, body was then reported and placed in the ancient city of Palmyra.
According to reports, the group Islamic State extremists beheaded the former chief of antiquities in the city and left his body hanging in public for terrified residents to view, 82-year-old archeologist was killed after he refused to divulge information on “specific archeological treasures, Tuesday.
Antiquities Khaled al-Asaad, a well known archaeologist in Palmyra, Syria. Speculations on issues upon the killing was that he refused to give information on where valuable artifacts had been hidden, reason why Islamic State militants beheaded him.
In the statement of Colin Clarke, an expert in terrorist and insurgent financing at the RAND Corp. in Pittsburgh, “None of this is a science, but it’s fair to say that ISIS is turning more to the smuggling and trafficking of antiquities as other revenue sources become more problematic or dry up.”
Asaad’s death was a big loss, he was one of the great antiquities in the place. For 50 years, he was a director of the UNESCO heritage site from the year 1963 to 2003. After his retirement, still worked with the antiquities and museum department. Antiquities Khaled al-Asaad been responsible for some of its most significant finds. An intact third-century mosaic depicting a battle between human beings and mythical animals, was one of those.
Archaeologist and former Syrian antiquities official Amr al-Azm stated, “If you needed to do anything in Palmyra with regards to the archaeology or the monuments, you had to go through Khaled al-Asaad. He was essentially ‘Mr Palmyra’.” IMAGE/Marc Deville/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images
