ISIS destroys World heritage Temple in Palmyra

Islamic State have destroyed an ancient temple in the city of Palmyra. The extremist blow up Baalshamin Temple World heritage site on Sunday, according to Syria's antiques chief.

ISIS's media wing the central privince of Homs, revealed the Temple was littered with explosives before it exploded into a mushroom of cloud on Sunday.

 The United Nations condemned the demolition as a “war crime”, coming days after Isil beheaded the Palmyra's elderly antiquities director.

The extremist group seized the Palmyra archaeological site and the modern town of the same name in May, raising fears of its imminent destruction.

It was understood to remain largely untouched as the jihadists instead repurposed the ruins as a stage for their brutal executions.

But Maamoun Abdulkarim, the director-general of Syria’s antiquities ministry, said on Sunday that the Temple of Baalshamin had been destroyed in a large explosion.

“Daesh placed a large quantity of explosives in the temple of Baal Shamin ... and then blew it up causing much damage to the temple,” he said, using an Arabic acronym for Isil.

 The UN cultural watchdog Unesco called the destruction of the temple a "war crime" and an "immense loss for the Syrian people and humanity".

"The art and architecture of Palmyra, standing at the crossroads of several civilizations, is a symbol of the complexity and wealth of the Syrian identity and history," UNESCO director general Irina Bokova said.

"Extremists seek to destroy this diversity and richness, and I call on the international community to stand united against this persistent cultural cleansing."

Dedicated to a Babylonian storm god, the temple is thought to have dated back to the year 17AD. It became one of the most important landmarks inside a city which once sat at the heart of the third century Queen Zenobia's empire.

The ruins of Palmyra Temple