Daesh destroys monuments inside Mosul museum

ERBIL, Iraq

The Prime Minister of Iraq's Kurdish Regional Government condemned the destruction of monuments inside Mosul museum by Daesh, the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group. 

"This destruction proves what a great threat the terrorist group Daesh poses to humanity and civilization," said Nechirvan Barzani in a written statement on Friday.

Stating that the destruction of the museum caused great damage to world civilization, Barzani continued: "People of Kurdistan and Iraq were hurt by the destruction video where Daesh brutally destroyed the key historical artifacts."

The video, whose recording date could not be verified, also showed other militants destroying statues using hammers, saws and electrical digging machines, saying they would destroy the monuments even if they were worth billions of dollars.   

“These idols used to be worshipped in the old centuries instead of Allah,” a Daesh member standing in front of a large statue said in the video. 

The monuments date back to the 8th century B.C., according to the labels on the monuments that appeared in the video.

The museum enjoys historical importance and features thousands of artifacts that belong to the old Assyrian civilization, many of which were looted after the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003.

The Mosul museum was reported to have been looted and destroyed by mobs shortly after the fall of Baghdad in 2003. Local Iraqis managed to save some manuscripts and artifacts, but the U.S. Army was criticized for not having done enough to save the museum according to news reports at the time.

Barzani said the artifacts in the museum were a sign of a cultural coexistence of the region's people.

"The artifacts are a piece of Iraq's and the region's key richness," added Barzani and called on the UN to prevent the export of the artifacts out of the conflict-hit country by the militant group. 

UNESCO wants action after Daesh destroys Iraq artifacts

UNESCO has called on the UN Security Council to hold an urgent meeting on protecting of Iraq’s cultural heritage, after Daesh militants destroyed statues and other artifacts in Mosul Museum.

“I am deeply shocked by footage released today showing the destruction of statues and other artifacts of the Mosul Museum,” UNESCO Director-General Irina Bukova said.

UNESCO said that among many pieces, seven large statues from its World Heritage site of Hatra, as well as unique artifacts from the archeological sites of Ninewah and the Palace of Sennahareb have been destroyed or defaced in Mosul Museum.

“This attack is far more than a cultural tragedy – this is also a security issue as it fuels sectarianism, violent extremism and conflict in Iraq,” Bukova said.

A video published on social media on Thursday showed Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, known also as Daesh, militants breaking some statues with sledgehammers in Mosul Museum.

Last weekend the Daesh group attacked and burned Mosul Library, home to some 8,000 historical texts. In the library there were many hand-written books from the Ottoman, Abbasid and Ayyubid periods.

Bukova said that the Daesh acts stood in direct violation of Security Council Resolution 2199 that condemns the destruction of cultural heritage and adopts legally-binding measures to counter illicit trafficking of antiquities and cultural objects from Iraq and Syria.

“The systematic destruction of iconic components of Iraq’s rich and diverse heritage that we have been witnessing over the past months is intolerable and it must stop immediately,” Bukova said.

Daesh controls swathes regions in Iraq and Syria, where it has declared a so-called caliphate after taking the control of Iraq’s second-largest city in June 2014.

Egypt Islamic body slams Daesh antiquity-smashing

Egypt's Dar al-Iftaa, an Islamic institute authorized to issue religious edicts, has condemned the Daesh militant group's recent destruction of antiquities in Iraq's Mosul museum.

"The rogue ideas by which this group of Al-Qaeda defectors has justified the destruction of antiquities are misleading and futile," the Dar al-Iftaa said Friday.

"Such justifications have no basis in Sharia [Islamic] Law," the Dar al-Iftaa said. "Muslim conquerors always ensured the preservation of ancient monuments."

"The companions of Prophet Muhammad who came to Egypt following the Islamic conquest never ordered the demolition of [Pharaonic] monuments, which hold great historical value," the institute added.

It called on governments and international heritage organizations to work on putting an end to "assaults on cultural heritage, no matter where."

It also called on Muslim and Christian preachers to "resist rogue ideas that call for the destruction of antiquities by raising awareness about the importance of preserving cultural heritage."

"Daesh," the Arabic acronym for the so-called "Islamic State of Iraq and Levant" (ISIL) militant group, released a video on Thursday purportedly showing its fighters destroying antiquities inside Iraq's Mosul museum.

The video, the date of which could not be verified, also showed other militants demolishing statues with sledgehammers, saws and electrical digging machines.

"In ancient times, these idols were worshipped instead of Allah," one Daesh militant – standing in front of a large statue – says in the video. 

Some of the antiquities destroyed date back to the 8th century BC, according to museum labels that were on those that appeared in the video.

Mosul's museum once held thousands of artifacts from the ancient Assyrian civilization, many of which were looted following the U.S.-led invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003.

Last summer, Daesh militants overran Mosul, capital of Iraq's northern Ninevah province, before capturing large swathes of additional territory in both Iraq and Syria.