Shocking satellite images show how ISIS thugs have destroyed Palmyra’s 1,800-year-old Roman amphitheatre after retaking city

SATELLITE savages have laid bare the barbaric destruction of one of the world’s most famous monuments in the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra.

The jihadis destroyed countless priceless artefacts and executed the director of the museum.

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Satellite imagery shows it largely destroyed, with only four of 16 columns still standing and the stone platform apparently covered in rubble.

The imagery also showed extensive damage at the Roman Theatre, with several towering stone structures destroyed on the stage.

Just last May, a famous Russian orchestra performed at the theatre after Palmyra was first won back from the so-called Islamic State.

Maamoun Abdulkarim, the director-general of Syria's antiquities and museums, said "We received satellite photographs from our colleagues at Boston University showing damage to the facade of the Roman amphitheatre."

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The United Nations cultural organisation UNESCO says the destruction of the historic site in Palmyra is a war crime, while a Kremlin spokesman described it as "a real tragedy".

UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova said in a statement that the destruction constituted "a new war crime and an immense loss for the Syrian people and for humanity".

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