Syria's antiquities department and a war monitor on Sunday said a 3,000-year-old temple has been damaged in Turkish air strikes on a Kurdish militia in the country's north.
Turkey launched operation "Olive Branch" on January 20 against the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in Afrin, supporting Syrian opposition fighters with ground troops and air strikes.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said the temple was struck by air strikes on Friday.
Syria's antiquities department, a government agency, confirmed the attack on "one of the most important monuments built by the Arameans in Syria during the first millennium BC".
"This attack reflects the hatred and barbarism of the Turkish regime against the Syrian identity and against the past, present and future of the Syrian people," a statement on its website said.
Ain Dara before and after the airstrike. Damage to the site is indicated by red rectangle [Credit: DigitalGlobe NextView License; November 9, 2017 & January 29, 2018/via ASOR] |
"Three thousand years of civilisation destroyed in an air strike," Abdulkarim told AFP, denouncing the attack.
Major historical sites or monuments have been destroyed in fighting and by jihadists during Syria's nearly seven-year war, including in the UNESCO-listed world heritage site of Palmyra.
The area most heavily affected by the airstrike [Credit: ASOR] |
Abdelkarim told AFP the destruction of the Ain Dara temple was at "the same level of atrocity" as IS blowing up the Temple of Bel.
He also voiced concern for a group of 40 ancient villages in the Afrin region, which UNESCO calls "Ancient Villages of Northern Syria" and includes on its world heritage list.
"The villages, which date from the 1st to 7th centuries (AD), feature a remarkably well preserved landscape and the architectural remains of dwellings, pagan temples, churches, cisterns, bathhouses," according to the UNESCO website.
Syria's conflict has killed more than 340,000 people and displaced millions since it began in March 2011.
Source: AFP [January 29, 2018]