UN officials on Thursday condemned the bombing and partial destruction of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which was allegedly carried out by regime forces on Tuesday.
The Telegraph reported that President Bashar Assad’s forces attacked rebels situated in the town of Bosra, damaging an ancient citadel and a 2nd-century Roman theater within it.
“The destructions sustained by Bosra represent a further escalation in the horror of war and must be stopped at once to allow the concerned parties to consolidate the agreement reached on the ground to preserve the irreplaceable heritage of Bosra,” UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova said.
“The protection of cultural sites is part and parcel of the protection of human lives as it is essential for the restoration of peace in Syria,” Bokova added. “The Roman theater of Bosra embodies the rich diversity of the identity of the people of Syria.”
Bokova also called on art professionals to look out for potential trafficking of artefacts from the site.
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The damage in Bosra is the latest case of destruction of cultural heritage sites brought on by the Syrian civil war. The Islamic State has intentionally destroyed the ancient sites of Palmyra, Nimrud and Hatra, as well as various historical sites in Mosul and Tikrit, which the group deems to be pagan.
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