ISIS beheads Palmyra antiquities expert in the ancient city where he had worked for 50 years - then hangs his body from a column.
An 82-year-old scholar who worked for more than 50 years as head of antiquities in Palmyra, Khaled Asaad has been executed by ISIS yesterday in the ancient Syrian city and hung his body on a column in a main square.
Asaad, a university professor and the former General Manager for antiquities and museums in Palmyra, one of the archaeological jewels of the Middle East. He was taken hostage by the group after it seized the UNESCO World Heritage site earlier this year.
Syrian state antiquities chief, Maamoun Abdulkarim, revealed that the deceased had been detained and interrogated for over a month by the radical Muslim militants.
Sickening images proudly shared on social media by depraved supporters of the terror group showed the mutilated remains of Assad chained to a railing, with his severed head still wearing glasses, placed on the floor between his feet.
Abdulkarim said: "Just imagine that such a scholar who gave such memorable services to the place and to history would be beheaded... and his corpse still hanging from one of the ancient columns. 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."