Isis defies will of the world and bulldozes ancient Assyrian city of Nimrod

THE GUARDIAN
Nimrud is a 13th century BC Assyrian archaeological site close to Mosul, which is controlled by Isis militants. Photograph: Alamy
IRAQ---Islamic State fighters have looted and bulldozed the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud, the Iraqi government said, in their latest assault on some of the world’s greatest archaeological and cultural treasures. A tribal source from the nearby city of Mosul said the jihadis, who dismiss Iraq’s pre-Islamic heritage as idolatrous, had pillaged the 3,000-year-old site on the banks of the Tigris river. Archaeologists have compared the assault on Iraq’s cultural history to the Taliban’s destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas in 2001. [link]