ISIS has started to destroy the ancient city of Nimrud, an Iraqi archeological site, Thursday in an effort to cleanse the culture.
The United Nations has condemned the destruction of the city and the artifacts, and said it should not be considered anything less than a war crime, according to ABC News.
"This is yet another attack against the Iraqi people, reminding us that nothing is safe from the cultural cleansing underway in the country: it targets human lives, minorities, and is marked by the systemic destruction of humanity's ancient heritage," said Irina Bokova, director of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
A video emerged last week showing ISIS militants using sledgehammers to destroy ancient artifacts in a museum in Mosul. The militants pushed over statues and drilled into other ancient treasures. An unidentified man in the video said the artifacts were idolatrous and that God had ordered them to destroy them, regardless of the value.
In addition, ISIS has started to destroy the ancient city of Hatra, which was classified as a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in 1985, NBC News reported. Hatra was built in the second century B.C. and was the capital of the first Arab Kingdom.
ISIS is campaigning to destroy these ancient cities and historical sites that they believe are heretical.
In addition to these crimes, ISIS has systemically murdered unarmed civilians and prisoners, persecuted minors and used young women as sex slaves, ABC News reported.
