The Islamic State has posted video of its destruction of archaeological treasures in Mosul, Iraq’s third-largest city which the jihadists captured last June:
The artefacts date back to the Assyrian era of the 7th century BC, including Assyrian statues of winged bulls from Nineveh and Nimrud and statues from Hatra, a Hellenistic-Parthian city in northern Iraq 2,000 years ago.
A spokesman declares, “Oh Muslims, the remains that you see behind me are the idols of people of previous centuries, which were worshipped instead of Allah….The Prophet Muhammad shattered idols with his honorable hands when he conquered Mecca. The Prophet Muhammad commanded us to shatter and destroy statues.”
