BEIRUT – The Islamic State group has released propaganda images that purport to show militants laying explosives in and then blowing up the 2,000-year-old temple of Baalshamin in Syria's ancient caravan city of Palmyra.
The images, posted Tuesday on social media by supporters of the group, showed the temple reduced to a pile of rocks. One caption read: "The complete destruction of the pagan Baalshamin temple."
The Associated Press could not independently verify the images. However, they were released like other group propaganda and carried a logo it often used in the city of Palmyra, in Syria's central Homs province.
The images also corresponded to prior AP reporting. A resident of Palmyra had told the AP the temple was destroyed on Sunday, a month after the group's militants booby-trapped it with explosives.
