ISIS destroys Prophet Sheth shrine in Mosul

In another offensive to destroy Mosul’s religious heritage, radical militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group blew up Nabi Shiyt (Prophet Seth) shrine in the northern Iraqi city, Agence France-Presse reported Saturday.

“ISIS militants stopped people from coming close, set explosives in and around the shrine and then detonated them as a crowd looked on,” one resident who witnessed the demolition told AFP.

A video published on YouTube on Friday showed how ISIS detonated the entire shrine.

Seth is revered in Christianity, Islam and Judaism as the third son of Adam and Eve.

Sami al-Massoudi, the deputy head of the Shiite endowment agency overseeing holy sites, confirmed that militants blew up the Nabi Shiyt shrine and added that they took some of the artefacts to an unknown location.

“These people follow this impossible religious doctrine according to which they must destroy or kill anything or anybody deviating from their views,” he said.

“That simply has nothing to do with Islam.”

Militants targeted Al-Hadba

Meanwhile, a local Mosul official, Zuhair al-Chalabi, told Al-Sumaria News that ISIS on Friday wanted to destroy Al-Hadba Minerat, which is considered to be one of Iraq’s historical icons, but local residents stopped them.

Al-Hadba is located in the Great Mosque, famous for its leaning minerat which gave the city its nickname “the hunchback” or Al-Hadba.

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Al-Chalabi said a number of residents protested the move when they stayed inside the mosque to stop the demolition.

“ISIS terrorist members have surrounded Al-hadba since early morning and the Great Mosque,” he said, adding “they implanted the mosque and the minerat with explosives to destroy it.”

“Residents stayed inside [the shrine] to stop the operation,” which led to altercations between them and the militants.

The latest destruction comes a day after ISIS militants completely leveled the reputed tomb of Jonah (Nabi Yunus) in Mosul, sparking an outcry among religious officials.

“This most recent outrage is yet another demonstration of the terrorist group’s intention to shatter Iraq’s shared heritage and identity,” the top U.N. envoy in Iraq, Nickolay Mladenov, said.

(With AFP)