Daesh (ISIS) beheaded famed Syrian archeologist Khaled Asaad this week and displayed his body on a column in one of Palmyra's main square, Reuters reported Tuesday.
Asaad was reportedly taken hostage following Daesh's takeover of Palmyra in May. He spent 50 years living at the site and was its antiquities chief. Reports claim Daesh had been questioning Asaad about where Palmyra's prized antiquities were held, killing him after he refused to give up the information.
The 82-year-old spent his life researching the Unesco World Heritage site. Now these are places Daesh and the rest of the war in Syria have systematically destroyed. That dark irony probably wasn't lost on many people.
And the fact that a man who spent his life trying to protect and understand places that hold human history was killed by a group whose goals include ruining just that is one of those reminders that this war has more than just crushing human casualties. It's destroying cutlure and the people who protect it.
Here are some of the Twitter reponses below.
ISIS murders elderly Palmyra expert, hangs his body with the city he loved http://t.co/V2xNV0QYgO
— P_Shamasapo_Becks (@Peter_S_Becks1) August 19, 2015ISIL behead Khaled Asaad (82), archaeologist who headed antiquities dept in Palmyra for 50 years. Hung body in square http://t.co/jsNL9H8GBk
— Joshua Landis (@joshua_landis) August 19, 2015Absolute horror. Isis beheads Palmyra scholar and hangs him from ruins he spent his life restoring http://t.co/zyiHZczCyR
— effie poulaki pan (@effiechilia) August 19, 2015Some people said Khaled Asaad collaborate with the regime. But in countries like Syria,if you want to research you must to play with regime.
— Ruslan Trad (@ruslantrad) August 19, 2015Khaled Asaad, 82. Thanks to him one day I'll be able to see what our ancestors left behind. He was a true... http://t.co/3h4OUj5tJB
— Diego Russo Ph (@diegorusso1988) August 19, 2015
