mis à jour le Lundi 29 janvier 2018 à 16h15
A frieze of lions and sphinxes as well as colossal basalt lions ran around the temple of Ain Dara
bbc.com ⎜29/01/2018
Turkish air strikes have seriously damaged an ancient temple in Syria's Kurdish-held Afrin region, the Syrian government and a monitoring group say.
Pictures circulated online showed what appeared to be a crater in the centre of the Ain Dara site and rubble where there used to be carved basalt lions.
The Neo-Hittite temple was built by the Arameans in the first millennium BC.
Turkish troops and allied Syrian rebels launched an offensive to push a Kurdish militia out of Afrin nine days ago.
The Turkish government says the People's Protection Units (YPG) is an extension of the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has fought for Kurdish autonomy in south-eastern Turkey for three decades.
The YPG denies any direct organisational links to the PKK - an assertion backed by the US, which has provided the militia and allied Arab fighters with weapons and air support to help them battle the jihadist group Islamic State (IS) in Syria.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, says at least 51 civilians living in Afrin have been killed in Turkish air and artillery strikes since the offensive began. Dozens of YPG fighters and rebels are also reported to have died in clashes, along with seven Turkish soldiers.
About 60% of the temple of Ain Dara, which is 10km (6 miles) south of the city of Afrin, was destroyed on Friday, according to the Syrian Observatory.
Syria's antiquities department, a government agency, denounced the attack, saying it "reflects the hatred and barbarism of the Turkish regime against the Syrian identity and against the past, present and future of the Syrian people".
Former antiquities chief Maamoun Abdul Karim told AFP news agency that the temple was known for its "exceptional" colossal basalt lions.
About 60% of the temple of Ain Dara, which is 10km (6 miles) south of the city of Afrin, was destroyed on Friday, according to the Syrian Observatory.
Syria's antiquities department, a government agency, denounced the attack, saying it "reflects the hatred and barbarism of the Turkish regime against the Syrian identity and against the past, present and future of the Syrian people".
Former antiquities chief Maamoun Abdul Karim told AFP news agency that the temple was known for its "exceptional" colossal basalt lions.