Islamic State militants 'behead 81-year-old archaeologist'

Islamic State militants have beheaded the expert who looked after the Roman ruins in the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra, according to reports.

The jihadists killed 81-year-old Khaled Asaad in a square outside the town’s museum, said state news agency SANA and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Maamoun Abdulkarim, the head of the Antiquities and Museums Department in Damascus, said he was told by Mr Asaad’s family that the scholar’s body was later taken to Palmyra’s archaeological site and hung from one of the Roman columns.

Mr Abdulkarim said: “Just imagine that such a scholar who gave such memorable services to the place and to history would be beheaded.

“The continued presence of these criminals in this city is a curse and bad omen on [Palmyra] and every column and every archaeological piece in it.”

Palmyra is home to one of the Middle East’s most spectacular archaeological sites. The 2,000-year-old Roman-era city at the town’s edge, a Unesco World Heritage site, was captured by IS in May.