After several days of fighting in the vicinity of ancient Palmyra in Syria, Islamic State militants managed to break into the city, which is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Islamic State militants in Syria Archive photo

Islamic State (IS) militants on Saturday broke into the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra, which is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. this . reports AP

According to the head of the Syrian government for antiquities, Maamoun Abdulkarim, the fighting in the vicinity of Palmyra has been going on for four or five days, but the Syrian army fighters managed to prevent the militants from entering the city.

“What is the international community doing? It waits until it is too late, as has already happened in northern Iraq,” a Syrian official was quoted as saying by Reuters .

Palmyra is one of the richest cities of late antiquity, located in one of the oases of the Syrian Desert, 240 km northeast of Damascus, near the border with Iraq. Now on the site of ancient Palmyra there is a Syrian city and the ruins of ancient buildings: the temple of Bel (1st century AD), the temple of Baalshamin (2nd century), agora (3rd century), an amphitheater and a caravanserai. under threat since 2013 Palmyra has been .

Earlier on Saturday, the Pentagon reported that during a special operation by US special forces in the vicinity of Palmyra, one of the leaders of the Islamic State, Abu Sayyaf, was killed. Earlier this week, Iraq announced the elimination of the “second man” in the Islamic State, Abu Alaa al-Afari.

At the end of 2014, the Russian Supreme Court recognized the Islamic State as a terrorist organization and banned its activities in the country.

Islamic State militants broke into the ancient city of Palmyra