Why ISIS set off explosives at Syria's ancient Bel temple

(The Christian Science Monitor) In its latest assault on Syria’s cultural heritage, the self-described Islamic State has used explosives to destroy part of the 2,000-year-old Temple of Bel in the ancient caravan town of Palmyra, local activists said.

While the scale of the damage is unclear, IS appears to be stepping up its destruction of such sites for propaganda purposes, signaling to its supporters that its power is unbridled after a year of U.S.-led airstrikes in Iraq and Syria.

The temple is considered among the most important at Palmyra, which IS seized in May from Syrian forces. The Sunni jihadist group initially focused on killing regime loyalists and imposing their archaic interpretation of Islam on the local population. Two weeks ago, it murdered Khalid al-Assad, an 82-year-old antiquities scholar in Palmyra. Now it appears determined to dynamite the town’s Roman-era ruins in the face of global calls for it to be spared.