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World|life|March 6, 2015 / 03:10 PM
Outcry as Islamic State bulldozers 'wreck' Nimrud, Iraq

AKIPRESS.COM - _81435383_000048705-1 Archaeologists and officials have expressed outrage about the bulldozing of the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud by Islamic State militants in Iraq, reports BBC.

On Thursday IS - which controls swathes of Iraq and Syria - began demolishing the site, which was founded in the 13th Century BC, Iraqi officials said.

The Iraq director for the UN cultural agency Unesco called it "another appalling attack on Iraq's heritage".

IS says ancient shrines and statues are "false idols" that have to be smashed.

"They are erasing our history," Iraqi archaeologist Lamia al-Gailani said.

Nimrud lies about 30km (18 miles) south-east of Mosul.

Many of the artefacts found there have been moved to museums in Baghdad and overseas, but many remain on site.

As an act of cultural vandalism, the attempt to destroy Nimrud is already being compared with the Taliban's demolition of the Bamiyan Buddha rock sculptures in Afghanistan in 2001, says the BBC's Jim Muir in Beirut, neighbouring Lebanon.

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