ERBIL, Kurdistan Region--In its latest assault on Iraq's cultural and religious heritage the Islamic State (ISIS) has demolished the country's oldest Christian monastery. AP has confirmed that the 1,400-year-old St. Elijah's Monastery of Mosul has been completely destroyed by the group. U.S. personnel who had served in Mosul and attempted to preserve the historic site are deeply saddened by the destruction. An army reservist who was deployed there during the Iraq War, Col. Mary Prophit, says she "would imagine that many people are feeling like, 'What were the last 10 years for if these guys can go in and destroy everything?'" Satellite imagery provided to AP reveals that the site has quite literally pulverized by ISIS members using, in the words of analyst Stephen Wood, "Bulldozers, heavy equipment, sledgehammers, possibly explosives," to destroy the site "completely." "There's nothing left to rebuild," Wood concluded.
Iraq17-06-2026Iraq’s 40.1 million social media accounts outpace 39.6 million internet users: Watchdog
