Islamic State latest video shows radicals destroying thousands of years of history
A NEW video by the Islamic State has showed militants destroying ancient statues with sledgehammers in Mosul, Iraq.
The destruction of the historical artefacts – some thousands of years old – are the latest in a trend by the Islamic State to eliminate what they view as heresy.
The latest five-minute propaganda clip shows a group of bearded men inside the Mosul Museum using hammers, drills and sledgehammers to smash several large statues.
Isis destroy statues in Mosul
Our prophet ordered us to remove all these statues as his followers did when they conquered nations
"Oh Muslims, these artefacts that are behind me were idols and gods worshipped by people who lived centuries ago instead of Allah," one of the radicals tells the camera.
"Our prophet ordered us to remove all these statues as his followers did when they conquered nations."
One of the statues destroyed by the terrorists is a winged-bull Assyrian protective deity, dating back to the 7th century BC.
"I'm totally shocked," said Amir al-Jumaili, a professor at the Archaeology College in Mosul.
"It's a catastrophe. With the destruction of these artefacts, we can no longer be proud of Mosul's civilisation."
The destruction of the statues comes days after the radical group burned more than 8,000 books in the Mosul library.
In a move chillingly similar to the Nazi regime during the 1940s, Islamic radicals piled up rare manuscripts and documents spanning centuries of human knowledge before setting them alight.
The only documents that now remain in the Mosul library are Islamic texts.
Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq, is home to nearly 1,800 of the country's 12,000 registered archaeological sites.
The video appears to be the latest in the terror organisation's assault on the nation's heritage.
Islamic State – also referred to as IS, ISIS, ISIL – have also been accused of selling priceless artefacts to fund their war chest.
Organ harvesting has also been cited as a method of financing the ISIS campaign to capture large swathes of Iraq and Syria.
Earlier this month, the US military confirmed a force of up 25,000 Kurdish and Iraqi fighters plan to retake Mosul from its brutal extremists.
All of the fighters involved will be trained by the US. The operation is due to be launched in April or May.
