Syria's Palmyra: Ghost town bearing scars of IS destruction

PALMYRA, Syria -- Explosions rocked the ancient town of Palmyra on Friday, and on the horizon, black smoke wafted behind its majestic Roman ruins, as Syrian army experts carefully detonated hundreds of mines they said were planted by Islamic State militants before they fled the town.

An Associated Press crew visiting the town Friday witnessed firsthand the destruction inflicted by the extremist group on the town's famed archaeological site, less than a mile away from the modern-day town of the same name, now completely deserted.

While some parts of the site, including the Roman-era grand colonnades and amphitheater, appeared relatively untouched, the damage was very much visible elsewhere.

The remarkable Arch of Triumph, built under the Roman emperor Septimius Severus between A.D. 193 and A.D. 211, has been reduced to a pile of stones, blown up by Islamic State extremists who filmed the destruction for the world to see. The monumental arch once sat atop the famed colonnaded streets of the ancient town.

The Temple of Baalshamin and parts of the Temple of Bel, one of the best-preserved Roman-era sites, are also destroyed.

Apart from the Roman ruins themselves, heavy damage could be seen on parts of the walls of Palmyra's towering Mamluk-era citadel, built during the Islamic conquest in the 13th century. On top of the scarred citadel, a Syrian flag flies in the wind.

Palmyra is located about 155 miles east of Damascus, the Syrian capital. Government troops, backed by allied militiamen and Russian airstrikes retook the town on Sunday from Islamic State militants who had controlled Palmyra and its environs for 10 months.

Ancient Palmyra is a UNESCO heritage site -- an archaeological gem that attracted tens of thousands of tourists every year.

It was completely deserted Friday, except for Syrian army soldiers working on dismantling explosives and visiting journalists. The town -- about a mile away from the ruins -- is completely deserted, its remaining residents had fled as the Syrian army's offensive against the Islamic State began a month ago.

Traces of the fighting could be seen all around. Burned cars parked on the side of the road, electricity cables strewn about on the streets, and scattered empty water tanks apparently used as barricades.

At the entrance to the Roman amphitheater, where the Islamic State filmed children shooting captive Syrian soldiers in the head, black graffiti is sprayed on a stone wall. "Lasting and Expanding," it read in Arabic, a logo of the Islamic State group.