ISIS fanatic uses a hammer to destroy ancient treasures in latest attempt to wipe out Syria’s history

This is the moment an ISIS extremist uses a sledgehammer to destroy ancient Syrian treasures.

Footage shows a fanatic crushing artefacts found west of Abu Kamal in the Deir Ezzor province of Syria, close to the country’s border with Iraq.

The jihadist rants that the items are being destroyed because they were ‘created by Satan and worshipped instead of Allah.’

Viewers are told that the decision to smash the sculptures was made by an ISIS ‘Shariah committee’.

The video, released by the terror group’s Amaq Agency, comes days after shocking pictures revealed how extremists have wiped out thousands of years of Syrian history.

As desperate militants are driven out of the towns, villages and cities they used to run, the terrorists have made sure new occupants are left with nothing.

This has included annihilating religious buildings, artifacts, tombs and graveyards in both Syria and Iraq.

Pieces of architectural history that had stood for thousands of years have been torn down, with some calling for the destruction of significant cultural sites to be classed as a war crime.

In January this year, the traditional art museum Ajakbach was torn to the ground by terrorists.

And in 2015, ISIS destroyed Palmyra’s Temple of Bel that had been dedicated to the Phoenician god of storms and fertilising rains for 2,000 years.

They later used dynamite to blow up funeral towers and a triumphal arch, which had stood for 1,800 years in the oasis city described by the U.N. cultural agency as a crossroads of cultures since the dawn of humanity.

Palmyra’s ancient theatre was even used as a venue for public executions.

Source: Daily Mail