Newsletter Newsletters Events Events Podcasts Videos Africanews
Loader
Advertisement

Islamic militants wreak havoc on Iraqi antiquities

Islamic militants wreak havoc on Iraqi antiquities
Copyright 
By Reuters
Published on
Share Comments
Share Close Button

Startling images have been released by hardline Islamist militants in northern Iraq of the destruction of a collection of priceless statues and

Startling images have been released by hardline Islamist militants in northern Iraq of the destruction of a collection of priceless statues and sculptures.

In a video published on online, Islamic State members wield sledgehammers and drills to attack the artefacts, some of them identified as antiquities from the 7th century BC.

For ISIL they represent symbols of idolatry. The articles destroyed appear to come from an antiquities museum in the northern city of Mosul, which was overrun by Islamic State last June.

Some archaelogists say the militants have wreaked incalculable damage and have compared their exploits to the dynamiting of the Bamiyan Buddas by the Afghan Taliban in 2001.

Go to accessibility shortcuts
Share Comments

Read more

Revised reports suggest ISIL has abducted over 200 Assyrian Christians in Syria

Iraq says some US military personnel will stay due to Islamic State threat in Syria

Accused French Islamic State members sent to Iraq for trial, Syrian officials say