During the reporting period, the Islamist extremist group Daesh (ISIS, ISIL, IS) committed another horrific atrocity at the archaeological site of Palmyra (modern Tadmor), executing three unidentified individuals by binding them to three of the stone columns of the site’s Colonnaded Street and detonating attached explosives. Daesh previously used Palmyra’s Roman Theater as the location for a filmed mass execution of prisoners and has carried out numerous performative deliberate destructions of standing remains at the site. Daesh apparently seeks to increase its international media exposure and social media footprint through the combination of atrocities involving human victims and the inclusion, or deliberate destruction of, cultural heritage. In part, Daesh seemingly commits atrocities and terrorist acts — and times the release of related media — to divert attention away from major setbacks, as the organization continues to suffer casualties among its high level leadership, to lose territory, and fails to provide basic services to those trapped within its territories.

The Syrian Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums released new reports of archaeological looting and other heritage incidents in Quneitra Governorate. Previously little has been known of heritage incidents in the Quneitra area, and this region has seemingly suffered relatively little conflict-related damage relative to other parts of the country. The DGAM also released new information on heritage incidents in Hama Governorate, and newly released DigitalGlobe satellite imagery provided details on conditions in the vicinity of modern Raqqa.