- Jihadists shown smashing shrines and statues in 2,000-year old city that was declared a World Heritage site in 1987
- ISIS thugs recorded on ladders using hammers and AK-47s to smash down historic relics on the ancient walls
- The fanatics claim relics are 'false idols' which promote idolatry that violate their interpretation of Islamic law
- Authorities also believe they have been sold on the black market by the terrorist group to fund their atrocities
Published:
12:04 GMT, 4 April 2015
|
Updated:
14:12 GMT, 4 April 2015392
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A
shocking video has emerged of ISIS thugs using sledgehammers and AK-47
rifles to destroy walls and statues in Iraq's UNESCO World Heritage city
of Hatra.
In the slickly produced seven minute footage, jihadists are shown smashing shrines and statues in the 2,000-year old city.
Militants
are also recorded chipping away at the bases of some of the larger wall
sculptures and cracking boulders into ancient city pillars, while eerie
music plays in the background.
Scroll down for video
In the video, ISIS thugs balanced precariously on top of ladders are filmed smashing ancient relics in the heritage site
Balanced on top of a ladder, a jihadist is recorded cracking a carved head repeatedly on the side of the wall
The relic then cracks into pieces and falls to the ground in the latest act of destruction by the terrorist group in Hatra
Militants are filmed firing AK-47
rifles at relics in the UNESCO heritage site in the city of Hatra while
music plays in the background
On top a ladder, an ISIS thug cracks a historic artefact with a heavy hammer in the Iraqi city of Hatra
Having successfully completed the job, he climbs down the ladder as the ancient relic falls with a crash to the earth
In the clip, ISIS thugs - many of whom are wearing trainers - are recorded smashing ancient relics in Hatra
Elsewhere
in the clip, ISIS thugs balanced precariously on ladders use a hammer
to bang repeatedly on the back of carved faces on the side of the
ancient walls until they topple with a crash to the ground.
They
are also filmed blasting Kalashnikov rifles at artefacts in the city
that was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987.
The footage was posted to a militant website frequently used by the terrorist organisation.
ISIS currently controls a swath of land slightly larger than the UK, from Aleppo to central Iraq.
The
fanatics claim ancient relics are 'false idols' which promote idolatry
that violates their fundamentalist interpretation of Islamic law.
Authorities also believe they have been sold on the black market to fund their atrocities.
In the shocking footage, ISIS thugs batter relics they claim are 'false idols' in the 2,000-year old city of Hatra
The fanatics claim relics promote idolatry that violates their fundamentalist interpretation of Islamic law
A militant chips away at a pillar in Hatra with a pickaxe - the UN has called their actions a 'war crime'
A militant slams his axe into a pillar
in the World Heritage site - ISIS believes statues and shrines are
un-Islamic 'false idols' that must be destroyed
A militant takes aim at three religious relics on the side of a historic building in the 2,000-year old city
An ISIS thug hacks away at the side of the historic walls with a hammer, smashing it into pieces as they fall to the ground
In between the shocking acts of
destruction, the video pans to two militants speaking and brandishing
their fingers directly into the camera
The slickly produced seven minute clip begins with an aerial shot over the ancient site where relics have been destroyed by ISIS
Hatra, 68 miles southwest of ISIS-held city of Mosul, is 2,000 years old and is a UNESCO World Heritage site
ISIS have destroyed ancient relics such as this in Hatra, as they violates their fundamentalist interpretation of Islamic law
Last
month, ISIS terrorists were pictured toppling crosses, smashing
Christian relics with hammers and erecting the black flag of ISIS on
churches in Nineveh, the ancient capital of the Assyrian empire.
Pictured
in civilian clothing, the ISIS thugs were seen overturning statues,
destroying religious icons and replacing Christian crosses with the
chilling ISIS banner.
Elsewhere,
ISIS went on a rampage in the Assyrian city of Nimrud in northern Iraq,
destroying the 3,000 year-old winged statues placed at the gates of the
Palace of Ashurnasirpal.
The jihadists also bulldozed ruins in Hatra in March.
ISIS
have also set off bombs around Mosul Central Library, destroying as
many as 10,000 priceless and irreplaceable books and manuscripts.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon called the Nimrud attack 'a war crime.'
Hatra,
68 miles southwest of the ISIS-held city of Mosul, was a large
fortified city during the Parthian Empire and capital of the first Arab
kingdom.
It is home to numerous temples and sculptures dedicated to gods including Apollo and Poseidon.
The
video comes in the wake of a major blow for ISIS, with Saddam Hussein's
hometown of Tikrit falling into the hands of the Iraqi government.
Tikrit is 80 miles north of Baghdad on the main highway to Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city.
Meanwhile
Isis has taken control of 90 per cent of a Palestinian refugee camp on
the outskirts of Damascus - only a few kilometres from Bashar al-Assad's
stronghold.
A
human rights monitoring group claimed that the terror organisation
almost has full control of the camp which has a population of 18,000
civilians.
The United Nations said it was very concerned about the safety of the population.
Chris
Gunness of the UN Relief and Works agency said: 'The situation in
Yarmouk is an affront to the humanity of all of us, a source of
universal shame.
'Yarmouk
is a test, a challenge for the international community. We must not
fail. The credibility of the international system itself is at stake.'
The
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights warned that the population of the
camp are under threat of death from Isis, hunger and disease.
HATRA: A 2,000 YEAR-OLD CITY DESTROYED BY FANATICS WHO CLAIM ANCIENT RELICS ARE 'FALSE IDOLS'
Hatra is 68 miles southwest of the city of Mosul.
It
dates back 2,000 years to the Seleucid empire which controlled a large
part of the ancient world conquered by Alexander the Great.
It is famous for its striking pillared temple at the centre of a sprawling archaeological site.
The
ancient city, a UNESCO world heritage site, is said to have withstood
invasions by the Romans thanks to its high, thick walls reinforced by
towers.
A temple to the Shamash sun god still stands more than 1,750 years after the Sassanian empire razed the Mesopotamian city.
The ancient trading centre in Hatra spanned 4 miles in circumference and was supported by more than 160 towers.
At
its heart are a series of temples with a grand temple at the center — a
structure supported by columns that once rose to 100 feet.
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