Washington-Sana
The American Herald Tribune newspaper revealed that Turkish-backed armed terrorist groups deployed in the Afrin area north of Aleppo stole a lion statue at the famous Ain Dara archaeological site made of basalt.
The newspaper quoted local sources in the Afrin region as saying that the famous statue is no longer in place with the archaeological site in Ain Dara, while an archaeologist confirmed, based on a comparison of aerial photos taken in 2018 and 2019, that the basaltic statue is no longer in place, which means that it was stolen earlier .
The Ain Dara Archaeological Temple, which is characterized by its rare sculptures made of basaltic stone and was discovered by a national antiquities mission in 1982, is one of the most important archaeological hills in Syria, and it is one of the unique ruins in the Levant, which represents the Aramean civilization in Syria, where the Arameans built it during the first millennium BC.
According to the newspaper, no one can steal this important historical monument with the exception of terrorist groups backed by the Turkish regime that are spread in the region, and the huge size of the statue makes it not possible to move it from the site except by special machines.
Several photos documented the bulldozing of the archaeological hill in Ain Dara, which houses the basaltic statue and turned it into a military site, by the Turkish occupation forces and allied terrorist groups.
In this context, Russia Today quoted the archaeologist Salah Sainu, who specializes in documenting attacks on antiquities in northern Syria, as saying that it is based on a comparison of aerial photographs dating back to the period before the Turkish occupation forces entered the area and its mercenaries with recent aerial photos, which shows that the Great Basalt lion statue is no longer present in Location.
Sinu points out that the Turkish occupation forces and terrorist groups operating under his command have closed the archaeological site to the people since they turned it into a military site.
The General Directorate of Antiquities and Museums warned at the beginning of the incursion of the Turkish occupation forces and their mercenaries from the terrorists into the Afrin region, from the dangers to which the monuments are exposed as a result of the aggression of the Turkish regime in the area, especially the brutal destruction of the Ain Dara temple in order to destroy and steal the Syrian cultural heritage.