Islamic State militants have bulldozed an ancient Iraqi city using heavy military vehicles in their latest attack on the country’s historical heritage.
The jihadists have reportedly smashed up 3000 year-old winged statues that are place at the gates of the palace of Ashurnsirpal. Days after ISIS extremists targeted a museum in Mosul, they went on a rampage in the city of Nimrud.
Iraq’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities stated that ISIS ‘continues to deft the will of the world and the feelings of humanity.’ The ancient city of Nimrud was the second capital of Assyria, an ancient kingdom that began in 900BC.
The city which was destroyed in 612BC is located on the Tigris River, south of Mosul, which was captured by ISIS last June. In the late 1980s the discovery of treasures in Nimrud’s royal tombs was one of the 20th century’s most significant archaeological finds.
After Iraq was invaded in 2003, archaeologists were relieved to find the treasures had been hidden in the country’s central bank inside a vault submerged in sewage water.
ISIS, who control a third of Iraq and Syria, have attacked other archaeological and religious sites, claiming that they promote apostasy.