ASOR Syrian Heritage Initiative (SHI): Planning for Safeguarding Heritage Sites in Syria - Weekly Report 1 (August 11, 2014)

Weekly Report 1 encompasses July 20, 2014 to August 10, 2014. Also included are Incident Reports SHI 14-001, SHI 14-002, SHI 14-003, SHI 14-004, SHI 14-005, and SHI 14-006.

This report contains a Heritage Timeline describing events involving the destruction of heritage sites in Syria. During the reporting period, Islamic State (IS formerly ISIS or ISIL) made substantial territorial gains in northern Syria and northern Iraq and continued to exert pressure on Baghdad and the Aleppo-­Damascus corridor. Islamic State activities in the Tigris watershed sparked a humanitarian crisis as thousands of members of religious minorities fled into the mountains or to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.