Syrian authorities found a mass grave in the historic town of Palmyra with bodies of victims of the militant ISIS terrorist group, which controlled the area years ago.

Iran PressMiddle East: The mass grave was discovered near the second-century Roman amphitheater, Syria's state news agency said Friday.

The agency said the remains of 12 people buried there have been taken to hospital morgues for identification before they can be handed over to their families.

Palmyra is a UNESCO world heritage site and once linked Persia, India, and China with the Roman empire and the Mediterranean area. The ISIS militants controlled the area in two turns in 2015-2016 and killed scores of people there — killings often captured in extremist propaganda videos — before they were evicted. ISIS also damaged some of the town’s famed archaeological treasures.

The brutality and the actions by ISIS in Palmyra triggered an international outcry. Palmyra was retaken in 2017 by Syrian government forces who have held it since then.

Palmyra, with its 2,000-year-old towering Roman colonnades and priceless artifacts, was affectionately referred to by Syrians as the “Bride of the Desert.”

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