United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon on Sunday welcomed the removal of Islamic State (IS) group militants from Syria's ancient Palmyra, calling for the site to be protected for future generations.

In a news conference in Jordan, Ban said he was "encouraged" that the UNESCO world heritage site is out of extremist hands and that the Syrian government "is now able to preserve and protect this human common cultural asset".

He called on "all the people around the world to protect and preserve this common asset of humanity."

IS seized Palmyra in May last year and destroyed the grand Temple of Bel, the shrine of Baal Shamin and several funerary towers which the militants consider blasphemous.

Syrian government forces recaptured the city on Sunday.

Known to Syrians as the "Pearl of the Desert", Palmyra boasted temples, colonnaded alleys and elaborately decorated tombs that were some of the best preserved classical monuments in the Middle East.

https://english.ahram.org.eg/News/198050.aspx