UNESCO: Islamic State systematically destroying heritage sites

Human remains at an open grave inside the destroyed Saint Eliane Monastery.

Since overtaking large swaths of Syria and Iraq, Islamic State fighters have destroyed dozens of ancient churches, mosques, and archaeological sites, defending its destruction of cultural artifacts by claiming they are idolatrous and represent pre-Islamic cultures.

The town was captured by the Islamic State August.

The altar inside Mar Elian monasteryIS regards Christians as infidels.

“The cultural cleansing underway at the hands of ISIL/Daesh must stop”, Irina Bokova, the director-general of UNESCO, said in a statement Friday, using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group.

Israel’s military has accused Palestinian militants from the Islamic Jihad group of firing the rockets, who Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran had given “sponsorship and instruction” to. Around 30 Christians were able to escape the town for Homs after it was captured.

“Attacks against civilians and minority groups as well as their heritage are in direct violation of humanitarian law, as stated by the UN Secretary General and the UN Security Council”. On Friday, witnesses said the militants bulldozed St. Elian Monastery in central Syria.

In May, ISIS fighters kidnapped the prior of the 1500-year-old monastery of Mar Elian, Syrian Christian priest Jacques Mourad.

I am both saddened and outraged to learn of the brutal murder of Khaled Asaad, who oversaw antiquities at the UNESCO World Heritage site at Palmyra.

Asked for his reaction to the destruction of the monastery, Bishop Audo said: “As usual for us Christians, it is a message of violence and intolerance, a message to spread fear everywhere”. Activists said some Christians were released, but the others’ fate is still unknown.

So far, Palmyra’s most famous sites have been left intact, though there are reports IS has mined them, and the group reportedly destroyed a famous statue of a lion outside the city’s museum in June.

Bokova stated she believes al-Asaad was “brutally murdered” as a result of he refused to reveal the place authorities had hidden treasures secreted out of Palmyra earlier than the IS takeover.