UNESCO condemns ISIL's Nimrud destruction as war crime
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has condemned the destruction of the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud by the ISIL Takfiri terrorist group as a “war crime.”
"I condemn with the strongest force the destruction of the site at Nimrud," said Irina Bokova, the UNESCO head, on Friday, adding, "We cannot stay silent. The deliberate destruction of cultural heritage constitutes a war crime, and I call on all political and religious leaders in the region to stand up against this new barbarity."
On Thursday, Iraqi officials announced that the Takfiri militants “bulldozed” the cultural heritage located south of Mosul in northern Iraq.
ISIL "assaulted the historic city of Nimrud and bulldozed it with heavy vehicles," read a post on an official Facebook page of the Iraqi Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.
On February 26, the ISIL group released a video showing its militants using sledgehammers and drills to smash ancient statues at the Ninawa museum in Mosul, which put on display Assyrian artifacts dating back to the 9th century B.C.
The Takfiri terrorists have already razed to the ground a number of mosques in Syria and Iraq, many of them dating back to the early years of the Islamic civilization. The terrorists have also destroyed tombs belonging to revered Shia and Sunni figures.
ISIL terrorists, who have persecuted minorities and people of various faiths, are also targeting artifacts and museums.
Officials in Mosul said in early February that the ISIL had burnt a precious collection of historic books and manuscripts in the Ninawa museum. Tens of thousands of priceless documents, some of them registered with UNESCO, were destroyed in flames.
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