12 Apr 2015

Nimrud: Islamic State ‘destroys’ ancient city in Iraq

Video emerges on a social media website purportedly showing Islamic State fighters militants bulldozing the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud in Iraq.

On March 6, there were reports that Islamic State fighters had looted Nimrud, in Iraq, in one of their several assaults on some of the world’s greatest archaeological and cultural treasures.

Read Lindsey Hilsum's blog: Islamic State fighters smash historic statues in Iraq

In the video uploaded on Saturday, a man said to be an IS militant said: “God has honoured us here in the Islamic State and helped us to destroy anything that used to be worshipped besides God in ancient days. Look at us here, all praise be to God, we are destroying all statues and monuments.”

Standing in front of explosives rigged in front of a stone frieze another man said: “We remove the signs of polytheism and spread monotheism in every single territory we acquire. By God, we will destroy the signs of polytheism and we will destroy the graves and shrines of the rejectionists (Shi’ites) in their homes.

“We will smash the (Christian) crosses and we will demolish the Black House (White House) in the middle of America, the home of infidels.”

The video showed IS militants using sledgehammers, electric drills and an electric saw to destroy the artifacts before blowing up one site with a large amount of explosives.

Channel 4 News is unable to independently verify the content of this video.

Nimrud is said to be one of Iraq’s most celebrated archaeological sites, founded in the 13th century BC. It lies around 30km (18 miles) south east of Mosul, which has been the target of US-led coalition air strikes on the militant group.

Watch Lindsey Hilsum’s report from February:

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