Artifacts confiscated in eastern Mosul house
Iraqi artifacts. File photo.
Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Interior Ministry has declared confiscating artifacts inside a house of one of Islamic State members who fled eastern Mosul.
In a statement on Tuesday, Brigadier General Saad Maan, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, said “Intelligence department in Nineveh seized artifacts at a house of an IS member who fled the eastern side of the city.”
The artifacts, according to Maan, “are from Mosul Museum. They have different shapes and sizes.”
The group, which considered sculptures as symbols of infidelity, posted footage showing its members axing down priceless Assyrian, Akkadian, Babylonian, Persian and Roman artifacts, many of them two millennia old or older, drawing international condemnation. Reports later showed that some antiquities were sold out in online auctions.
In March, Iraqi troops took the museum back from the militants, leaving its collection in a sorry state.
Mosul museum, which was built in 1952, housed more than 2,000 artifacts. Officials gave conflicting accounts of how many militants were there when the group overran the city in 2014.
Eastern Mosul was retaken by government troops in January after three months of battles. Another major offensive was launched in February to retake the western side of the city.