One of the world’s most important historical sites is now on the chopping block.

Via Guardian:

Islamic State fighters have seized about a third of the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra after heavy fighting against the military and allied combatants, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group has said.

“Isis fighters seized the northern parts of the city, which amount to a third of Palmyra,” said Rami Abdurrahman, head of the Observatory. “Regime forces fled from these neighbourhoods.”

Isis fighters advanced towards the city, known as Tadmur in Arabic, over the weekend but were repelled. The city is home to a Unesco world heritage site and Syria’s antiquities chief has said the insurgents would destroy ancient ruins if they took control of it.

State television said “armed forces targeted Isis terrorist groups north of Palmyra and blocked their infiltration of the northern parts of the city”.

It was the second time Isis has overrun northern Palmyra after it seized the same neighbourhoods on Saturday but held them for less than 24 hours.

The jihadis were locked in fierce clashes with regime forces on the city’s northern edges, as well as in the east, near the notorious Palmyra prison.

They managed to seize a state security building and spread out through northern districts, the Observatory reported.

Mohammad, an activist originally from Palmyra, told AFP that “regime soldiers fled after Isis took the state security building” in the north of the city.

UPDATE:

We put our feet on metal door! Hilarious!

UPDATE: Uh oh.

UPDATE: FYI: The Islamic State is not winning.

BEIRUT, May 20 (Reuters) – Islamic State militants stormed the Syrian city of Palmyra on Wednesday, seizing it from government forces in fierce fighting as civilians were evacuated and Syria’s antiquities chief called on the world to save its ancient monuments.

The capture of Palmyra is the first time the al Qaeda offshoot has taken control of a city directly from the Syrian army and allied forces, which have already lost ground in the northwest and south to other insurgent groups in recent weeks.

The central city, also known as Tadmur, is built alongside the remains of a oasis civilisation whose colonnaded streets, temple and theatre have stood for 2,000 years.

It is home to modern military installations, and sits on a desert highway linking the capital Damascus with Syria’s eastern provinces, mostly under rebel control.

“Praise God, (Palmyra) has been liberated,” said an Islamic State fighter speaking by Internet from the area. He said Islamic State was in control of a hospital in the city which Syrian forces had used as a base before withdrawing.