With Sledgehammer, Islamic State Smashes Iraqi History

RUETERS
By Isabel Coles and Saif Hameed

In this image made from video posted on a social media account affiliated with the Islamic State group on Feb. 26, 2015, militants attack ancient artifacts with sledgehammers in the Ninevah Museum in Mosul, Iraq. (Photo: AP)

IRAQ---Ultra-radical Islamist militants in northern Iraq have destroyed a priceless collection of statues and sculptures from the ancient Assyrian era, inflicting what an archaeologist described as incalculable damage to a piece of shared human history. A video published by Islamic State on Thursday showed men attacking the artifacts, some of them identified as antiquities from the 7th century BC, with sledgehammers and drills, saying they were symbols of idolatry. "The Prophet ordered us to get rid of statues and relics, and his companions did the same when they conquered countries after him," an unidentified man said in the video. [link]