(AGI) Beirut, May 23 - ISIS militants have now fully conqueredthe ancient Syrian city of Palmyra, known as Tadmur in Arabic,and raised their flag over the citadel, ISIS supportersannounced via social media on Saturday. ISIS entered thehistoric area on Wednesday after breaking through fierceresistance by Syrian forces. The group's supporters postedphotographs, whose authenticity has not yet been confirmed,purportedly showing the jihadists in the citadel. One suchpicture was captioned: "Tadmur citadel under the control of theCaliphate." Other photographs show the militants searchinghomes for enemy soldiers, and knocking down pictures of Basharal-Assad and his father Hafez. ISIS troops have also seizedPalmyra's museum, said Syria's director of antiquities, MamounAbdulkarim, adding that the extremists destroyed a number ofthe museum's plaster statues. "There's almost nothing left inthe museum, we had been progressively transferring theantiquities to Damascus," Mr Abdulkarim affirmed during a pressconference. "But there are still the large items, like thesarcophagi, which weigh three or four tonnes and we could notmove, those are what worry me," he said. Meanwhile, theU.S.-led international coalition has conducted at least 22 airstrikes against ISIS territories in Iraq and Syria over thelast 24 hours, the allied military command in Washingtonstated. The strikes primarily targeted ISIS hotspots in the twocountries, respectively Palmyra in Syria and Ramadi in westernIraq, where Baghdad's troops and allied Shia militias havemounted a vast counter-offensive against the extremist group.(AGI). .
