Islamic State blows up Arch of Triumph in Palmyra

The Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) has destroyed the nearly 2,000-year-old Arch of Triumph in the ancient city of Palmyra, Syria's head of antiquities and activists have said according to international media.

Al Jazeera reports that the arch was one of the most recognisable sites in Palmyra, the central city affectionately known by Syrians as the "Bride of the Desert," which ISIL seized in May.

The monumental arch sat atop the famed colonnaded streets of the ancient city, which linked the Roman Empire to Persia and the East.

"We have received news from the site that the Arch of Triumph was destroyed yesterday [Sunday]. IS[IL] bobby-trapped it several weeks ago," antiquities director Maamun Abdulkarim told the AFP news agency.

"This is a systematic destruction of the city. They want to raze it completely.

"They want to destroy the amphitheatre, the colonnade. We now fear for the entire city," he added, calling on the international community to "find a way to save Palmyra".

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said ISIL blew up the arch but left the colonnades in place.

An opposition activist who uses the name Khaled al-Homsi also posted on Twitter late on Sunday that ISIL had destroyed the arch.

Homsi was a nephew of Khaled al-Asaad, the 81-year-old antiquities scholar and long-time director of the Palmyra site who relatives and witnesses say was beheaded by ISIL in August.

Palmyra's sprawling Roman-era complex, which also includes remains of temples to local gods and goddesses, has been under attack from the ISIL since they seized the site earlier this year.

ISIL's self-declared "caliphate," argues such ancient relics promote idolatry and says they are destroying them as part of their purge of paganism. However, they are also believed to sell off looted antiquities, bringing in significant sums of cash.

In recent weeks, ISIL blew up two famed temples in Palmyra, with satellite images showing the temples, each nearly 2,000 years old, reduced to rubble, and three ancient tower tombs were also eradicated.