Iraq’s tourism and antiquities minister, Adel Fahad al-Shershab, has said the US-led coalition carrying out air strikes against the radical Islamic State (IS) must try to protect the country’s archaeological sites being destroyed by the terrorist group.

IS recently released footage of the group destroying priceless artefacts in Mosul, prompting the looted Iraq Museum to reopen ahead of schedule after a 12-year closure. The group then bulldozed the 13th century BC city of Nimrud, followed closely by the fortress city of Hatra, which is more than 2,000 years old and is a UNESCO world heritage site.

"The sky is not in the hands of the Iraqis, the sky is not in our hands. Therefore, the international community must move with the means it has," said al-Shershab speaking to journalists in Baghdad. "We request aerial support."

IS has tried to justify its destruction of antiquities by saying they works are “idolatrous”, but according to authorities, the group has been trafficking the items to fund its assault on the Middle East and is destroying only those pieces too bulky to be smuggled.

UNESCO has called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss how to protect Iraq's cultural heritage. The world heritage body previously suggested the formation of protected cultural zones – areas where there would be an enhanced focus on preventing attacks on cultural heritage and illicit trafficking in cultural properties.

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