UN slams ISIS over destruction of Hatra

The United Nations' cultural body has condemned the "destruction" by the Islamic State jihadist group of Hatra, a stunning Roman period ancient fortress city in the Iraqi desert.

The destruction of the UNESCO world heritage site was reported two days after the Iraqi antiquities ministry said that IS bulldozed the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud, and a week after the jihadists released a tape of them smashing artefacts in the Mosul museum.

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"The destruction of Hatra marks a turning point in the appalling strategy of cultural cleansing under way in Iraq," UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova said.

The UNESCO statement did not say when or how Hatra, which was built around 2,200 years ago, was destroyed, nor was any Iraqi official able to provide such details.

But razing the entire site of Hatra, whose thick walls and large buildings withstood two Roman invasions in the 2nd century, would be no small undertaking. UNESCO describes Hatra as "a large fortified city under the influence of the Parthian Empire, the capital of the first Arab kingdom, and bearing the roots of Islamic Arab cities."

"This is a direct attack against the history of Islamic Arab cities, and it confirms the role of destruction of heritage in the propaganda of extremist groups," Bokova said.

The jihadists try to justify the destruction by saying the statues and sites are idolatrous, but experts say they traffic antiquities to fund their self-proclaimed "caliphate" and destroy only those pieces that are too bulky to be smuggled.