IS militants ‘bulldoze’ ancient Iraqi city of Nimrud

The Islamic State group began bulldozing the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud in Iraq, the government said, in the jihadists’ latest attack on the country’s historical heritage. IS “assaulted the historic city of Nimrud and bulldozed it with heavy vehicles,” the tourism and antiquities ministry said on an official Facebook page. An Iraqi antiquities official confirmed the news, saying the destruction began after noon prayers on Thursday and that trucks that may have been used to haul away artefacts had also been spotted at the site.

I’m sorry to say everybody was expecting this. Their plan is to destroy Iraqi heritage, one site at a time. Hatra of course will be next.

Abdulamir Hamdani, an Iraqi archaeologist from Stony Brook University

Nimrud is the site of what was described as one of the greatest archaeological finds of the 20th century when a team unearthed a collection of jewels, precious stones in 1988. The jewels were briefly displayed at the Iraqi national museum, disappeared from public view but survived the looting that followed the 2003 US invasion and were eventually found in a Central Bank building.

Nimrud Middle East