Terrorists, Foreign Experts Participate in Plundering Historical Artifacts in Northwestern Syria

TEHRAN (Defapess)- The Arabic-language website of Sputnik quoted local sources as reporting that Tahrir al-Sham along with almost twenty foreign experts embarked on carrying out excavations in Sheikh Mansour region near the town of Saraqib in Idlib province, adding that the terrorists have set up a security belt around the excavation site, preventing residents from approaching the site.

It further said that the terrorists have stolen hundreds of historical artifacts from Idlib in recent days, adding that excavation operations have increased after the establishment of the de-escalation zone since the beginning of the last year.

The report said that the town of Sarmada near the border with Turkey has been turned into the main bazaar for trading historical artifacts and weapons.

It went on to say that the looted artifacts have been transferred to Turkey by Tahrir al-Sham and have been sold to the country's traders.

Idlib province comprises of almost 400 historical sites some of them dating back to the fourth millennium BC.

Local sources said on Tuesday that Tahrir al-Sham members had done excavations at the ancient Girls Palace North of the village of al-Dana, plundering its valuable artifacts.

The sources pointed to the vast destruction of the palace, adding that Tahrir al-Sham has smuggled the stolen artifacts to Turkey to sell them there.

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