Tracking a trail of historical obliteration: ISIS trumpets destruction of Nimrud
ISIS continues to bulldoze its way through the cultural heritage of Iraq and Syria, releasing a new propaganda video showing its fighters destroying Iraq's ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud in March. Nimrud lies close to ISIS' main stronghold in Iraq, the northern city of Mosul. The video, which ISIS posted Saturday, shows militants attacking the more […]Susannah Cullinane, Hamdi Alkhshali and Mohammed Tawfeeq report for CNN:
ISIS continues to bulldoze its way through the cultural heritage of Iraq and Syria, releasing a new propaganda video showing its fighters destroying Iraq's ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud in March. Nimrud lies close to ISIS' main stronghold in Iraq, the northern city of Mosul.
The video, which ISIS posted Saturday, shows militants attacking the more than 3,000-year-old archaeological site with sledgehammers and power tools before finally using explosives to blow it up. The United Nations has previously described such deliberate cultural destruction as a "war crime," but in the Nimrud footage the ISIS militants appear proud of their actions.
