The female solo backpacker who braved a turbulent Syria to photograph the magnificent Palmyra temples, now being systematically destroyed by ISIS

The world heritage sites that have been damaged so far by ISIS across Syria and Iraq

Bosra, Syria

Embellished with citadels, ruins and a second-century Roman theatre, Bosra was once the capital of the Roman province of Arabia.

As an important stopover on the ancient caravan route to Mecca it was home to early Christian ruins and several mosques.

Although Syrian rebels recaptured the ancient city of Bosra in Southern Syria in March 2015, video released by APSA (the Association for the Protection of Syrian Archaeology) recently depicted damage to ancient stonework and Roman mosaics at the Unesco World Heritage site.

Aleppo,Syria

As the battle rages on in Aleppo, the ongoing clashes have caused damage to the Unesco-listed Old City.

The eighth-century Great Mosque of Aleppo and Aleppo Citadel are reportedly at risk.

Meanwhile elsewhere in Syria, Saint Simeon Church and the 11th-century Crac des Chevaliers have taken a battering.

Nimrud, Iraq

'In Iraq ISIS are controlling one of the richest parts in terms of Mesopotamian remains such as the very important Assyrian cities of Nimrud and Khorsabad and Roman city of Hatra.

'They have so far destroyed sculptures at Hatra and Nimrud and reportedly blown up a palace in Khorsabad. They have partially destroyed Khorsabad,' revealed al-Hassan.

A film of ISIS militants destroying Nimrud in northern Iraq was released in April 2015 with jihadists pledging to remove all signs of idolatry.

Lauded for its frescoes, Nimrud's ancient ruins and relics that dated back 3,000 years were bulldozed.The losses were confirmed by The Iraqi Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

However, in 1845 British archaeologist Austen Henry Layard took six pairs of statues of lions and bulls from Nimrud which can now be found in the British Museum.

Hatra, Iraq

This circular fortified city is distinguished by its decorative architecture. Built by the successors to Alexander the Great, Hatra was capital of the first Arab Kingdom.

It withstood invasions by the Romans in AD 116 and 198 due to its high walls and towers.

Witnesses reported that the 2,000 year old city of Hatra was razed by ISIS in March 2015.

The Director-General of Unesco, Irina Bokova, and Dr Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri, Director General of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), issued a joint statement of outrage immediately after the attacks.

They said: 'The destruction of Hatra marks a turning point in the appalling strategy of cultural cleansing underway in Iraq.

'This is a direct attack against the history of Islamic Arab cities, and it confirms the role of destruction of heritage in the propaganda of extremists groups.'

Khorsabad, Iraq

The partial damage to Khorsabad is another loss for archaeological circles to bear.

King Sargon II constructed the new capital in 721BC and in March 2015 his palace was reportedly looted and destroyed.

Mosul, Iraq

Mosul's cultural legacy has been ripped apart by ISIS with Mosul Museum, Mosul Library and Jonah's tomb all attacked.

Iraq's second largest museum had contained collections from Hatra and Ninevah. Most of these sculptures were destroyed.

The library had housed 18th Century manuscripts and Ottoman era books which were reportedly burned.

The holy site of Jonah's tomb inside the Mosque of the Prophet Yunus is significant in Christianity and has also been devastated by ISIS.

However, in recent months as the dust begins to settle on the ruptured foundations of the tourism sites and museums rocked by ISIS, 2,000-year-old relics looted from these ancient sites in Iraq and Syria are starting to turn up on eBay.

Confirmation: The Temple of Baal Shamin had stood in the desert for 2,000 years, but was destroyed by ISIS at some point in the last months, as these images - taken in June (top) and in August (bottom) prove

ISIS has severely damaged yet another wonder of the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra, this time the 2,000-year-old Temple of Bel.

That's according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a group monitoring the conflict, citing contacts on the ground.

It was feared Bel would be next on the militant's hitlist at the Unesco World Heritage Site in central Syria after the temple of Baal Shamin was recently dynamited.

Dedicated to the Phoenician god of storms and fertilizing rains, the UN called the destruction of Baal Shamin a war crime.

A Palmyra resident, who goes by the name of Nasser al-Thaer, said IS militants set off a huge blast at 1.45 pm on August 30. 

'It is total destruction,' he said of the scene of the explosion. 'The bricks and columns are on the ground.'

'It was an explosion the deaf would hear,' he added.

The resident said only the outer wall surrounding the Temple of Bel remains.

Constructed in 32AD, the temple was dedicated to gods worshipped by the Semites - a group of different cultures in the Ancient Middle East including Assyrians, Phoenicians, Hebrews and Arabs.

It stood on an artificial hill which dates back more than 2,200 years and lavish carvings of the then-known seven planets, zodiac signs and Makkabel the fertility god adorn the monolithic ceiling of its northern chamber.

The remains of a basin, altar and even a dining hall can be made out inside the temple. On the north-west corner is a ramp where sacrificial animals were once led into the building.

ISIS also destroyed the treasured Lion of al-Lat – the 15-tonne, 3.5m-high piece made out of limestone early in the 1st Century AD.

The lion was considered the ancient consort of al-Lat, the goddess of the underworld who abhorred violence.

Stood in front of the ruins of the Temple of al-Lat, it symbolised her anger towards at anyone spilled blood in the city.

Dr Robert Bewley, Project Director at the School of Archaeology at Oxford, has predicted Palmyra will be razed to the ground 'monument-by-monument' by ISIS to wring every last propaganda opportunity out of the destruction.

He claimed the terror group is determined to destroy Palmyra piece by piece, known as 'the oasis in the desert' was a jewel of the ancient world and is revered because its Greco-Roman ruins are so well preserved.

The temple of Baal Shamin is destroyed by ISIS. It has been suggested the group could take Palmyra apart piece by piece 

The 82-year-old director of antiquities and the museum in Palmyra, Khaled Asaad, was murdered by ISIS

Dr Bewley told MailOnline: 'One fear is that ISIS will do piecemeal damage over the coming weeks to keep the publicity machine running, so it will be a slow but equally destructive approach.'

Unesco describes Palmyra as a heritage site of 'outstanding universal value'.

ISIS fighters view such sites as targets because of their desire to wipe out all traces of 'non-Islamic' history and what they regard as the idolatrous antiquities, icons and carvings.

Islamic State has imposed a violent interpretation of Islamic law across its self-declared 'caliphate' straddling Syria and Iraq.

It already has blown up several sites in neighbouring Iraq, and it is also believed to be selling looted antiquities.

The group took over Palmyra in May and recently murdered retired archaeologist and scholar Khaled Asaad, 82, who worked for more than 50 years as head of antiquities there.