“The temple structure is on a raised terrace that can be seen from afar, and our information is that the temple is still there,” said Maamoun Abdulkarim, Syria’s director of antiquities, The Guardian reported on Tuesday.
According to reports, the Takfiri militants targeted the Temple of Bel on Monday. It is a Roman-era structure in the central desert city
The Temple of Bel is the second temple the ISIL has targeted in Palmyra this month. The terrorist group detonated explosives in the ancient Baalshamin temple on August 25, an act that cultural agency UNESCO has called a war crime aimed at wiping out a symbol of Syria's diverse cultural heritage.
ISIL seized Palmyra in May from Syrian army in a sudden offensive and is tightly controlling communications in the city, according to activists.
The Takfiri group, which has proclaimed a caliphate in territory it holds across Syria and Iraq, has regularly demolished monuments it considers sacrilegious as well as carrying out mass killings.