The head of the UN cultural agency UNESCO says she is "deeply shocked" at footage showing Islamic State group militants using sledgehammers to destroy Iraqi artifacts, and she has asked the UN Security Council president for an emergency meeting on the protection of Iraq's cultural heritage.
The statement by Irina Bokova came shortly after the militants released a video Thursday of the destruction in Iraq's northern city of Mosul, with the group describing the relics as idols that must be removed.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric calls the destruction at the Mosul Museum "reprehensible and criminal," saying it robs people of their past.
Bokova says the smashing violates a council resolution protecting cultural objects from conflict zones in Iraq and Syria.
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