Iranian-backed group digs for ruins in Syria’s Palmyra
HOMS, Syria (North Press) – For the second time this year, Iraqi Hezbollah, backed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), is digging for antiquities near the ancient city of Palmyra, in the eastern countryside of Homs, private sources told North Press.
The group have brought in workers for excavating and digging from the villages and towns of the eastern countryside of Homs, and under direct supervision of the Iraqi Hezbollah, the sources added.
Abdulwahab al-Khalil, a pseudonym for a young man working in excavating, said that they work daily from 5 to 7 hours continuously, for 10,000 SYP per day.
He pointed out that the process is taking place under the supervision of leaders of the Iraqi Hezbollah who accompany them during the excavation in southeast of Palmyra, in the middle of the Syrian Desert.
Nuri al-Ahmad, a pseudonym, said that about 40 workers from Palmyra, al-Sakhnah and Homs, are brought by buses affiliated with the group and take them back in the evening.
He added that the members of the pro-Iranian group conduct a thorough inspection of the workers and “they confiscate their mobile phones during working hours to avoid positioning or taking pictures.”
The digging process is carried out with regular tools such as shovels and axes, at a depth of two to three meters in locations determined by supervisors who have maps with them and conceal them from workers.
In mid-January, Liwa Fatemiyoun, supported by the IRGC, carried out an archaeological excavation in the vicinity of the ancient Citadel of Palmyra, without reports of the amount of antiquities that were taken out of the region at the time.