Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria have saved at least 160 antiques from looting acts during the 6-year-old conflict, source told Ammar Johmani.
Asayish, the domestic security forces, said the artifacts are strictly controlled and protected by Kurd and Arab archeologists in unknown place.
Many of the antiques were restored from ISIS fighters and smuglers who used to sell it out of Syria.
According to the Independent, smugglers benefit from Syria being the cradle of civilisation, containing many of the earliest agricultural settlements and cities in the world. Some sites are famous, such as the great Umayyad Mosque in Damascus with its wonderful 8th century mosaics showing scenes of daily life at the time of the Arab conquest, or Dura-Europos, the Hellenistic city called “the Pompeii of the Syrian desert”, famous for the frescoes in the early Jewish synagogue, fortunately removed long ago to Damascus.
Thousands of important sites are in the most war-torn parts of the country such Ebla in Idlib province, a Bronze Age city from the second and third millennium BC. Others, such as Mari from the third millennium BC, are on Isis-controlled territory and are vulnerable to systematic destruction, looting and neglect. Pictures show deep holes dug by looters every few yards
