Report: ISIS militants planted mines around ancient Syrian city Palmyra

Palmyra in the 1880s.
(Image credit: Spencer Arnold/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says that Islamic State militants have placed land mines around the ancient city of Palmyra, Syria.

ISIS captured Palmyra in May, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports it is not clear if the group plans to destroy the ruins or if they are trying to keep Syrian forces at bay. Maamoun Abdulkarim, Syria's head of antiquities, told Reuters that the reports "seem true." "The city is a hostage in their hands," he added. “The situation is dangerous."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.