ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The Islamic State (ISIS) has destroyed a 2,000-year-old Assyrian monument and parts of the wall of the ancient city of Nineveh near Mosul. The militants brought in trucks to demolish the Mashka Gate, one of several such entrances that guarded the ancient city, according to Raafat al-Zirari, spokesman of the Nineveh media center. “A few days ago the terror group has smashed the archeological gate of Mashka (al-Masqa) in the western part of the city,” he told the regional ARA news service. “ISIS is likely going to destroy the rest of the historic monuments in the region,” he warned. The Mashka gate was discovered in 1968, one of several entrances to the ancient city of Nineveh. Since its takeover of Mosul June 2014, ISIS has destroyed many ancient and historical sites, including Christian churches and shrines belonging to both the Shiite and Sunni sects. In February 2015, ISIS demolished the Mosul museum and smashed its ancient artifacts. The museum was built in 1952 and contained some of the oldest cultural and religious artifacts of the Chaldean and Assyrian civilizations of Nineveh.
