ISIS Destroys Assyrian Mashki Gate in Nineveh with Bulldozers

ISIS has released footage showing the destruction of the Assyrian Mashki Gate in Nineveh, Iraq, using bulldozers and heavy machinery. The gate was built by King Sennacherib around the 8th century BCE on the northern side of the ancient Assyrian city, located east of Mosul. The demolition is part of a broader campaign against cultural heritage, despite the recent recapture of Palmyra by Syrian forces with Russian support. Italian Minister of Cultural Heritage Dario Franceschini condemned the act as 'barbarism' and an 'affront to world cultural heritage,' calling on the international community to mobilize through the United4Heritage initiative to assess damage and remedy the destruction. The footage was circulated online by the jihadists themselves.