ISIS behead 82-year-old scholar and hang decapitated body in ancient city

Sickening images were shared on social media by ISIS supporters showing Mr al-Asaad's headless corpse hanging from a pole.

He had spent more than 50 years working on the ancient Roman-era town.

The city is one of the Middle East's most spectacular archaeological sites and many of its artefacts were discovered by Asaad.

He was taken hostage after the terror group seized the Unesco World Heritage site earlier this year.

The scholar's family confirmed he was beheaded by ISIS fighters, according to Syria's director of antiquities Maamoun Abdulkarim.

Abdulkarim said: "Just imagine that a scholar who gave such memorable services to the place and to history would be beheaded.

"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."

Since ISIS took Palmyra in May, there have been fears the extremists would demolish the heritage site.

The group has previously destroyed ancient ruins in Syria and Iraq, but it is unknown how much damage they have caused to Palmyra.

Unesco, the United Nations' cultural organisation, said its destruction would be "an enormous loss to humanity".

Earlier this year ISIS jihadis destroyed an important statute in Palmyra, the 15 tonne Lion of al-Lat.

Al-Lat was a pre-Islamic Arabian goddess, and the statue dated back to the first century BC.

Abdulkarim said at the time it was "the most serious crime they have committed against Palmyra's heritage."

An offensive from the Syrian army aimed at driving militants out of the area has so far been unsuccessful.

(dailystar.co.uk)