April 15, 2016 Issue

Palmyra, Syria—A member of Syrian pro-government forces carries a flag of the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) on March 27 after troops recaptured the strategic city. The UNESCO World Heritage site is home to extensive ruins dating from the Roman Empire. Syrian forces found Palmyra largely deserted with neighborhoods badly damaged. Syria’s state news agency SANA said a mass grave was found containing around 40 people, including many women and children. Maamoun Abdulkarim, the government’s antiquities director, said that despite damage to the ruins, “the panoramic view of Palmyra—the colonnades, the baths, the arches and most of the temples—[is] surprisingly still intact.”