DAMASCUS: A Syrian government official in charge of antiquities says that militants belonging to Daesh or the self-styled Islamic State group have destroyed three ancient tower tombs in the central city of Palmyra.

Maamoun Abdulkarim, the head of the Antiquities and Museums Department in Damascus, said Friday the militants destroyed the tower tombs, including the Elahbel tower that dates back to the 103 AD, 10 days earlier.

He said the destruction took place before the militants destroyed on Sunday the two-millennia-old temple of Bel in the city, confirmed by UN satellite images.

The smaller Temple of Baalshamin was also destroyed days before, and the group posted images of the damage.

Explore more: How IS profits from destruction of antiquities

Islamic State, which has declared a caliphate in land it holds across Syria and Iraq, captured Palmyra from Syrian government control in May.

The group has carried out several mass killings in places it has taken over and destroyed monuments it considers sacrilegious, publishing photographs or videos of its actions.

It beheaded the 82-year-old guardian of Palmyra's ancient ruins last month.

UN cultural agency Unesco has said Islamic State's actions were war crimes aimed at wiping out evidence of Syria's diverse cultural history.

Activists say the group is keeping tight control on communications inside the city, making tracking events difficult.

In the past two weeks the group blew part of the Temple of Bel and Baal Shamin temple as well as a row of columns, a UN analysis of satellite images confirmed.