by Our Foreign Desk

ISLAMIC STATE (Isis) militants captured the central Syrian city of Tadmur yesterday, overrunning the ancient ruins of Palmyra to the south.

Syrian troops were forced to withdraw from the city in the face of the Isis offensive, but not before ensuring the evacuation of most of the population.

However, fears remained that the philistine Isis would destroy the Roman-era monuments outside the city — a Unesco world heritage site dubbed the Venice of the Sands — as it has done with ancient artefacts in Iraq.

Palmyra is famous for its 2,000-year-old towering Roman-era colonnades, other ruins and priceless artefacts.

In addition to civilians, hundreds of Palmyra’s statues have been moved to relative safety in the capital Damascus, despite it still suffering sporadic shelling by rebels.

“This is the entire world’s battle. The city is now totally controlled by gunmen and its destiny is dark and dim,” said Damascus antiquities and museum department head Maamoun Abdul Karim.

“We are in a state of anticipation and fear” about what will happen to “the archaeological site and the remaining artefacts in the museum.”

Homs provincial governor Talal Barazi said the Syrian army was situated outside Tadmur, from where it was targeting Isis reinforcements.

“We have not received any news about (the archaeological site’s) destruction,” he said. “We hope that there will be no massacres in the city or damage to the ruins.”

“I am deeply concerned by the situation at the site of Palmyra,” said Unesco chief Irina Bokova.

“The fighting is putting at risk one of the most significant sites in the Middle East and its civilian population.”

She urged all parties to respect international obligations to protect cultural heritage during conflict.

Despite capturing Tadmur and the major Iraqi city of Ramadi this week, Isis suffered a setback in Syria’s north-eastern province of Hassakeh where it came under attack by Kurdish militias.

The Kurdish forces, known as the People’s Protection Units, captured much of the Abdul-Aziz mountain near the village of Tel Tamr on Wednesday.