[NPASYRIA] The ancient city of Palmyra in the middle of the Syrian Desert, is witnessing secret excavations of antiquities by groups affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), using heavy machinery late at night, local sources said.
According to the owners of machinery and those working in the excavations, the Iranian-backed group Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba started a new excavation of antiquities in the vicinity of Palmyra in general and its northern outskirts in particular, using heavy machinery.
Hamdi Abdullah (pseudonym), owner of a truck, said he rented his dump truck to Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba from 8 pm until 8 am on a daily basis for a sum of 25,000 Syrian pounds (SYP) per day.
In May 2015, ISIS took control of Palmyra, which is on the UNESCO list of archaeological sites, and Syrian government forces retook control of it in March 2016 with the support of Russian air strikes.
However,
you can observe a lot just by watching...
eight months after ISIS was defeated there, its members regained control of Palmyra again in December 2016.
Following violent mostly peaceful battles between the two sides, the government forces managed to regain control over Palmyra in early March 2017, with the support of Russian air strikes. 
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