The tanks destroyed Asian city (8)
I believe the answer is:
tashkent
'asian city' is the definition.
(capital of Uzbekistan)
'the tanks destroyed' is the wordplay.
'destroyed' indicates anagramming the letters.
'the'+'tanks'='thetanks'
'thetanks' anagrammed gives 'TASHKENT'.
(Other definitions for tashkent that I've seen before include "Capital in central Asia" , "Central Asian capital" , "Uzbek city on the old Silk Road" , "somewhere in Asia" , "Uzbek capital" .)