UN Condemns ISIL's Barbaric Terrorist Acts in Iraq
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - The United Nations Security Council condemned what it described as the latest "barbaric terrorist acts" in Iraq by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants, including the destruction of priceless religious and cultural artifacts.
A video published by the ultra-radical militant group ISIL on Thursday showed men attacking ancient Assyrian statues and sculptures, some of them identified as antiquities from the 7th century BC, with sledgehammers and drills, saying they were symbols of idolatry, Reuters reported.
"The members of the Security Council strongly condemned the ongoing barbaric terrorist acts in Iraq by ISIL" the council said in a statement. It also reiterated that the group "must be defeated and that the intolerance, violence, and hatred it espouses must be stamped out."
Among the recent acts by ISIL the 15-nation council cited were the abduction of 100 Sunni tribesmen from outside Tikrit, the immolation of 45 Iraqis and daily attacks targeting civilians in Baghdad.
It also condemned "the deliberate destruction of irreplaceable religious and cultural artifacts housed in the Mosul Museum and burning of thousands of books and rare manuscripts from the Mosul Library."
ISIL has taken over large swaths of Iraq and Syria and has been accused of numerous human rights violations, including mass murder, beheadings, burning hostages alive and other atrocities.
