Palmyra turned into killing ground by IS

The IS video, which is thought to date from May, shows captured Syrian troops being lined up then shot in the head. Picture: Getty

The video showed the soldiers being taken in pickup trucks from the town’s notorious Tadmur prison to the amphitheatre. They were then shot dead by young IS members armed with pistols. Hundreds of people watched the killings.

The video did not indicate when the killings took place. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said these shootings took place on 27 May when it was claimed that t scores of Syrian troops and state employees were killed in the days after IS captured Palmyra.

Palmyra is a Unesco world heritage site famous for its 2,000-year-old Roman colonnades, other ruins and priceless artifacts.

The capture of Palmyra has raised concern that the militants might try to destroy one of the Middle East’s most spectacular archaeological sites – a well-preserved, Roman-era city on the town’s edge – as they have destroyed other pre-Islamic ancient monuments elsewhere in Syria and Iraq.

The shootings in the video took place inside the archaeological site and the bruised and bloodied troops were made to kneel in front of a giant IS black flag before being shot in the back of their heads.