TEMPO.CO, Baghdad - The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants have reportedly ransacked Mosul library, burning over one hundred thousand of rare manuscripts and documents spanning centuries of human learning.
Initial reports said that around 8,000 books were destroyed by the extremist group. However, AL RAI's chief of international correspondent Elijah J. Magnier, reported that a Mosul library official said that as many as 112,709 manuscripts and books, some of which were registered on a UNESCO rarities list, were among those destroyed by the group.
"People tried to prevent the terrorist group elements from burning the library, but failed," a local source told IraqiNews.com. Other reports indicated that ISIS militants later broke into the library and constructed a huge pyre of scientific and cultural texts as university students watched in horror.
Among the lost documents are a collection of Iraqi newspapers from the beginning of the 20th century, maps, books and collections from the Ottoman period.
AP | INDAH P.