BAGHDAD — Islamic State terrorists continued their campaign targeting cultural heritage sites in northern Iraq, looting and damaging the ancient city of Hatra one day after bulldozing the historic city of Nimrud, according to Iraqi government officials and local residents.
The destruction in Hatra comes as the terrorist Islamic group fended off an Iraqi army offensive in Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit and fought pitched battles in eastern Syria in an area populated by predominantly Christian villages.
Iraqi officials in the northern city of Mosul said Saturday that Islamic State terrorists have begun demolishing Hatra, a move UNESCO described as “cultural cleansing.”
An official with the ministry of tourism and antiquities’ archaeological division in Mosul said multiple residents living near Hatra heard two large explosions Saturday morning, then reported seeing bulldozers demolishing the site. He spoke anonymously for fear of reprisal.
Saeed Mamuzini, a Kurdish official from Mosul, told The Associated Press that the terrorists had begun carrying away artifacts from Hatra as early as Thursday, and on Saturday, they began to destroy the 2,000-year-old city.
Hatra, 68 miles southwest of Mosul, was a large fortified city during the Parthian Empire and capital of the first Arab kingdom. A UNESCO world heritage site, Hatra is said to have withstood invasions by the Romans in A.D. 116 and 198 thanks to its high, thick walls reinforced by towers.
The ancient trading center spanned 4 miles in circumference and was supported by more than 160 towers. At its heart are a series of temples with a grand temple at the center — a structure supported by columns that once rose to 100 feet.
Meanwhile in Syria, Islamic State terrorists attacked a string of predominantly Christian villages Saturday, touching off clashes with Kurdish militiamen and their allies, activists said.
Saturday’s fighting was focused in villages on the northern bank of the river as the terrorists press to capture Tal Tamr, a strategic crossroads about 20 miles from the city of Hassakeh, said Osama Edwards of the Assyrian Network for Human Rights.
