U.N. Confirms ISIS Leveled 2,000-Year-Old Palmyra Temple

It’s out of the picture. Satellite imagery reportedly confirms that ISIS has blown the ancient Syrian site to smithereens. Reports of an explosion were briefly allayed when Syria’s antiquities chief said the basic structure — dedicated to the god Bel in 32 AD — was still intact. But U.N. satellite imagery shows that the “main building of the temple has been destroyed.” The move follows the mid-August beheading of the town’s former antiquities chief and signals the militants’ intention to continue waging war against Syria’s cultural heritage. BBC, Al Jazeera