News that Islamic State fighters had Bulldozed and vandalized the ancient city of Nimrud in northern Iraq provoked outrage on Friday, as archaeologists despaired that the militant group was Systematically Destroying priceless antiquities in a Birthplace of Civilization.
Islamic religious scholars joined common cause with governments, museums and other international preservationists to denounce what they described as an odious affront.
Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam’s leading authority, based in Cairo, called the destruction “a major crime against the entire world.”
The top cultural official at the United Nations called the destruction a war crime that should be taken up by the International Criminal Court, and she vowed to do “whatever is needed” to stop the plundering by the Islamic State, also known as ISIS and ISIL.
“This is yet another attack against the Iraqi people, reminding us that nothing is safe from the cultural cleansing underway in the country,” said the official, Irina Bokova, who is director general of Unesco, the United Nations organization for education, science and culture.
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I'll wait.
