[ARABNEWS] Daesh holy warriors have blown up several of ancient Palmyra's famed tower tombs as they press their demolition of the UNESCO-listed world heritage site, Syria's antiquities chief said Friday.News of the demolition of the tower tombs which date to the first century AD comes after the terrorists' destruction of the ancient shrine of Baal Shamin and the 2,000-year-old Temple of Bel, regarded as Palmyra's masterpiece.
Antiquities director Maamun Abdulkarim told AFP that among at least seven tombs destroyed were the three best preserved and most treasured funerary towers, including the famed Tower of Elahbel.
"We received reports 10 days ago but we've just confirmed the news," he said. "We obtained satellite images from the US-based Syrian Heritage Initiative, taken on Sept. 2."
All of Palmyra, including the four cemeteries outside the walls of the ancient city, has been a UNESCO world heritage site since 1980.
In its listing, the UN agency singles out the tower tombs as the "oldest and most distinctive" of Palmyra's funerary monuments -- "tall multi-story sandstone buildings belonging to the richest families."
Abdulkarim said the Tower of Jambalik, built in 83 AD, was also destroyed, along with the Tower of Ketout built in 44 AD and famed for vivid scenes etched into its walls.
He said the tower tombs were symbols of the economic boom of Palmyra in the first century AD, when it dominated the caravan trade between east and west from its oasis in the desert.
Some of Palmyra's monuments still remain intact, including its grand amphitheater and the Temple of Nabu.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group, Daesh addressed a letter to Palmyra's residents promising further destruction.
"It pledged to demolish and destroy more heritage, saying that 'everything that is worshipped without God will be destroyed'," the Observatory said.