Islamic State captures World Heritage site despite Kurdish offensive

2,000 year-old monuments now at risk of Islamic wrath

While the Islamic State's recent capture of Mosul in Iraq has been making the news, it's there current conquests in Syria that are more worrying to several international historical groups.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Islamic State fighters recently seized roughly a third of Palmyra, a historic city and UNESCO World Heritage site, on Wednesday after a fierce battle with government and militia forces that has started over the weekend.

Palmyra, also known as Tadmur in Arabic, holds numerous 2,000 year-old monuments from the time before Islam.

Islamic State supporters posted pictures on social media of gunmen wandering the streets of Palmyra.

Already, hundreds of statues have been moved to safety, but the ancient city, which existed long before Iraq or Islam, is still in danger. As are artifacts that could not be moved in time and now sit inside Islamic State occupied areas.

In northeast Syria, Kurdish forces started an offensive against the Islamic State that reportedly killed at least 170 militants. One Kurdish official, Nasir Haj Mansour, said that YPG fighters as well as allied militia units encircled several Islamic State held villages near Tel Tamr in Hasaka province, which borders Iraq, and then started an offensive with the aid of U.S. airstrikes.

About 80 Islamic State fighters were killed while trying to flee the area earlier this week, and dozens more were killed in airstrikes.

"The confirmed number of (ISIS) dead is between 170 and 200," he said.

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