Russian Spetsnaz surrounded by ISIS near Palmyra, calls in airstrikes on himself.

Aleksandr Prochorenko, 25
Russian officer which called a strike onto himself near #Palmyra when was surrounded by IS pic.twitter.com/ZDA2lKVoNu

— Военный Советник (@miladvisor) March 29, 2016

Russian Spetsnaz surrounded by ISIS near Palmyra, calls in airstrikes on himself. (Yahoo).

A Russian special forces officer has been killed near Syria's Palmyra, a military representative at the Russian base in Syria was quoted as saying by Russian agencies Thursday.

"An officer of Russian special operations forces was killed near Palmyra while carrying out a special task to direct Russian airstrikes at Islamic State group targets," the unnamed representative said, without giving the date of the incident.

"The officer was carrying out a combat task in area for a week, identifying crucial IS targets and passing exact coordinates for strikes with Russian planes," he said.

"The officer died as a hero, he drew fire onto himself after being located and surrounded by terrorists," he said.

Moscow has been tight-lipped about having any soldiers on the ground throughout its campaign in Syria that began on September 30. Hmmm......."Quod facimus in vita resonat in aeternum". (What we do in life, echoes in eternity). Gladiator.

Video - What is left of the ruins of Palmyra. Russian military drone.

Video - ‘Cultural cleansing is human tragedy of Middle East’ – UNESCO chief.

The persecution of people based on their ethnicity and the deprivation of their intangible heritage has become part of the human tragedy in the Middle East, Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO told RT’s Oksana Boyko in ‘Worlds Apart’.

Islamic State militants Terrorists (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) are engaged in the “cultural cleansing” of the Middle East, Bokova said, describing it as a “human tragedy.”

When one “persecutes people on the basis of their ethnicity or religion, destroys their monuments, their temples, deprives them of their intangible heritage, attacks their identities – they stop being humane,” she said.

She stressed that there is an urgent need to curb the industrial-scale looting of archaeological sites and trafficking of goods in order to cut the extremists’ financing.

“We should not forget that this is a criminal activity that further finances terrorism, extremist activities, persecution of people. It’s not just looting. It’s not just because we love art that we are doing this. It has a deep meaning for peace and security,” she said.

Bokova reiterated the importance of UN Security Council Resolution 2199 introduced by Russia and adopted in February. The resolution condemned the destruction of cultural heritage and enforced legally-binding measures to counter the illicit trafficking of antiquities and cultural objects from Iraq and Syria.Read the full story here.

Terrorist group Islamic State destroys Palmyra’s triumphal arch.

#ISIS continues cultural cleansing in #Palmyra with the destruction of the Triumphal Arch today. pic.twitter.com/aBWtxHmQBb

— Julie Lenarz (@MsIntervention) October 4, 2015

Terrorist group Islamic State destroys Palmyra’s triumphal arch.(TOI).

Islamic State extremists have blown up the famous Arch of Triumph in the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra, the country’s head of antiquities said Monday, as the jihadists press their campaign to tear down the treasured heritage site.

“We have received news from the site that the Arch of Triumph was destroyed yesterday (Sunday). IS bobby-trapped it several weeks ago,” antiquities director Maamun Abdulkarim told AFP.

IS has carried out a sustained campaign of destruction against heritage sites in areas under its control in Syria and Iraq, and in mid-August beheaded the ancient city’s 82-year-old former antiquities chief.

The jihadists have already destroyed the shrine of Baal Shamin and the 2,000-year-old Temple of Bel, regarded as Palmyra’s masterpiece, since overrunning the citadel in May.

The Arch of Triumph, situated at the entrance of the ancient ruins’ historic colonnaded street, was an “icon of Palmyra,” Abdulkarim said, warning that IS fighters have already laid explosives in other monuments.

“This is a systematic destruction of the city. They want to raze it completely,” he said.

“They want to destroy the amphitheater, the colonnade. We now fear for the entire city,” he added, calling on the international community to “find a way to save Palmyra.”

Mohammad Hassan al-Homsi, an activist from Palmyra, backed up the account, saying: “The Arch of Triumph was pulverizaed. IS has destroyed it.”

Sunni extremist group IS has destroyed pre-Islamic monuments, tombs and statues it considers idolatrous, but experts say they are also funding their “caliphate” by selling artifacts on the black market.

Both the citadel and the ruins are on the UNESCO World Heritage list, and before the war around 150,000 tourists a year visited Palmyra. Hmmm......Each time ISIS is loosing or loose the attention of the world they blowup part of Palmyra, expect more to come.

This is the earliest photo ever taken of ancient #Palmyra (1864). Sadly no more because of #ISIS cultural cleansing. pic.twitter.com/tqUYQvbMpo

— Julie Lenarz (@MsIntervention) October 3, 2015

Syrian Army Within 9 km of the Ancient City of Palmyra.

#Syria: #Assad's #TigerForces recapture Jazal gas & oil fields in eastern #Homs from #ISIS, opens road to #Palmyra pic.twitter.com/X579veA6qX

— David Feeney (@Feeney4Batman) June 22, 2015

Syrian Army Within 9 km of the Ancient City of Palmyra. (almasdarnews).

In late April of 2015, the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) seized the ancient city of Palmyra (Tadmur), along with the vast majority of oil pipelines in the eastern countryside of the Homs Governorate after a surprise offensive in both Syria and Iraq caught the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) off guard.

For over one month, the militants from ISIS pushed west towards the provincial capital of the Homs Governorate, leaving many Syrians fearful of a potential attack by the terrorist group at this densely populated city; however, the Syrian Arab Army and National Defense Forces (NDF) were able to forestall this advance near the Tiyas Airbase.

ISIS’ failure to capture the Homs Governorate’ most imperative airport (Tiyas Airbase) has paid dividends to the Syrian Armed Forces, who have in-turn, launched a counter-assault from their positions at Jabal Al-Sha’ar (Poet Mountains).

With support from the Syrian Arab Army’s “Liwaa Suqour Al-Sahra” (Desert Hawks Brigade), the Tiger Forces (Qawat Al-Nimr) have arrived just-in time to push south from the town of Jazal to the ISIS-occupied city of Palmyra; this was confirmed after pictures of Colonel Suheil Al-Hassan and members of the Tiger Forces surfaced on Sunday morning.

After they arrived in the town of Jazal, the Tiger Forces did not waste any time going on the offensive at the Jazal Gas Fields, capturing the western flank of the Jazal Mountains after intense clashes with the enemy combatants from ISIS on Sunday afternoon.

As a result of their success at the Jabal Mountains, the Syrian Armed Forces have advanced south towards the city of Palmyra, leaving only 9km of desert land between their positions and ISIS’ frontline defenses at the Al-‘Amariyah village.

If the Syrian Armed Forces can force the remaining ISIS fighters to retreat from the outskirts of Jazal, they can effectively attack the aforementioned terrorist group at the northern outskirts of Palmyra. Hmmm.....Seems the placing of bombs around Palmyra ruins for when the battle comes too close.