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Syria's ancient sites face widespread looting and systematic bulldozing, satellite images reveal

Dozens of archaeological sites were destroyed by looting during Syria's civil war, which began in 2011 and lasted until 2024. Because the last comprehensive analysis was published in 2017, the extent of more recent damage to cultural heritage sites since 2016—including at UNESCO World Heritage sites such as Palmyra, long-running archaeological excavations like Mari, and the ancient Roman city of Apamea, known for its Great Colonnade—has been largely unknown.