According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the Islamic State have planted land-mines and explosives around the ancient Roman city of Palmyra, which was captured in May.

It is not clear whether ISIS are planning to blow up the city and its ruins, or whether the explosives are simply meant to impede advancing government troops.

“They have planted it yesterday. They also planted some around the Roman theater, we still do not know the real reason,” the head of the Observatory, Rami Abdulrahman, told Reuters.

“The city is a hostage in their hands, the situation is dangerous,” Syria’s head of antiquities, Maamoun Abdulkarim, said.

According to the BBC, the Observatory reports that Syrian soldiers have begun amassing outside the city and have launched air strikes against a residential neighborhood, killing at least eleven people.

Photo via AP Images. Contact the author of this post: brendan.oconnor@gawker.com.