Shocking moment ISIS militants take sledgehammers to Mosul tomb of Prophet Jonah as more than 50 blindfolded bodies are found massacred south of Baghdad

• ISIS militants filmed taking sledgehammers to tombstones in Mosul, Iraq
  
• Donning balaclavas and black clothing, they swung weapons into tombs
• One grave belonged to Prophet Jonah, revered by Muslims and Christians
• Rebels believe special veneration of tombs is against teachings of Islam
  
• Comes as more than 50 bodies have been found in city south of Baghdad
• Most of the bodies were blindfolded with gunshot wounds, said authorities
• Investigation is underway to establish the circumstances of the killings
  

By Sophie Jane Evans and Associated Press Reporter

Published: 12:00 GMT, 9 July 2014 | Updated: 19:26 GMT, 9 July 2014

This is the shocking moment ISIS militants took sledgehammers to Iraqi tombstones  - smashing them to pieces.

The rebels, who are members of the Islamic State terror group, were filmed attacking centuries-old graves in the north-west city of Mosul in Ninevah province.

Donning balaclavas and black coats, they swung sledgehammers into the tombs, causing pieces of dust and stone to fly through the air.

Scroll down for video

 

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Violent attack: An ISIS militant is filmed taking a sledgehammer to an Iraqi tombstone - smashing it to pieces

One of the devastated tombstones belonged to the Prophet Jonah (Younis in Arabic) and was revered by Muslims and Christians alike, according to Iraqi authorities.

The prophet, who is the central figure in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Jonah, is best known for being swallowed by a fish or a whale, depending on translation.

Earlier this week, a series of images emerged showing the destruction of almost a dozen Shia and Sunni religious shrines in Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, and the town of Tal Afar, which is also currently under ISIS control.

Tomb stone of Jonah the prophet is smashed by ISIS in Mosul

 

 

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Armed: The rebels, who are members of the Islamic State terror group, were filmed attacking centuries-old graves in the north-west city of Mosul in Ninevah province. Above, an ISIS militant vandalises a tombstone

 

 

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Smash: Donning balaclavas and black coats, the rebels swung sledgehammers into the green tombstones

ISIS militants believe giving special veneration to tombs and relics is against the teachings of Islam.

Speaking of the latest attack, Ninevah official Zuhair Al-Chalabi, told IraqiNews.com: 'The elements of ISIS [have] controlled the mosque of the Prophet Younis in Mosul since they invaded the city.'

'[They] engaged in the process of tampering with the contents of the Mosque. It is still held by them until now.' 

The shrine of the Prophet Seth (Shayth) was also destroyed by rebels, according to reports.

 

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Revered tomb: One of the devastated tombstones belonged to the Prophet Jonah (Younis in Arabic) and was revered by Muslims and Christians alike, authorities said. Another belonged to the Prophet Seth (Shayth)

It comes as more than 50 bodies have been discovered by Iraqi authorities in an agricultural area outside the city of Hillah, just south of Baghdad, today.

Military spokesman Brigadier General Saad Maan Ibrahim said most of the 53 bodies were found blindfolded with their hands bound and several gunshot wounds.

The grisly discovery in Hillah, a predominantly Shiite city around 60 miles south of Baghdad, has raised concerns over a possible sectarian killing amid the battle against a Sunni insurgency.

Brig Gen Maan said an investigation was underway to determine the identities of the dead, as well as the circumstances of the killings.

 

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Rampage: The attack is the latest in the ISIS's violent rampage across Iraq. Earlier this week, a series of images (including the one pictured) emerged showing the destruction of almost a dozen shrines and Shia mosques in Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, and the town of Tal Afar, which is also currently under ISIS control

The dead were all men between the ages of 25 and 40, and it appeared they had been killed a few days earlier and then dumped in the remote area, said a local police officer and a medical official.

They officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to brief the media.

A lightning sweep by the insurgents over much of northern and western Iraq in the past month has dramatically hiked tensions between the Shiite majority and Sunni minority.

At the same time, splits have grown between the Shiite-led government in Baghdad and the Kurdish autonomic region in the north.

 

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Destroyed: The photographs were posted on a website which frequently carries official statements from the Islamic State extremist group

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki today accused the Kurdish zone of being a haven for the extremists and other Sunni insurgents.

The claims are likely to further strain Baghdad's ties with Kurds, whose fighters have been battling the militant advance.

Mr al-Maliki lashed out at the Kurds in his weekly televised statement, saying 'everything that has been changed on the ground must be returned' - a reference to disputed territory Kurdish fighters have taken.

He went a step further, saying: 'We can't stay silent over Irbil being a headquarters for Daesh, Baath, al-Qaida and the terrorists.'

Daesh is the acronym in Arabic for the Islamic State group, often used as a pejorative by its opponents, while the Baath was the party of former dictator Saddam Hussein.

But Mr al-Maliki provided no evidence to back up his claims, which are sure to be rejected by Kurdish leaders in Irbil. Evidence on the ground also contradicts his allegations.

While the motives in this case remain unclear, such killings hark back to the worst days of Iraq's sectarian violence in 2006 and 2007.

At that time, with a Sunni insurgency raging, Shiite militias and Sunni militant groups were notorious for killings of members of the other sect.

Bodies were frequently dumped by roads, in empty lots, ditches and canals. As the levels of violence dropped over time, such discoveries became rare.

But sectarian tensions have soared once more and authorities have once again begun to find unidentified bodies since the Sunni militant offensive swept across much of northern and western Iraq.

The militant surge is led by the Islamic State extremist group, but other Sunni insurgents have joined, feeding off anger in their minority community against the Shiite-led government.

 

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Prime Minister: Nouri al-Maliki today accused the Kurdish autonomic region in the north of being a haven for the extremists and Sunni insurgents. He said: 'Everything that has been changed on the ground must be returned'

On the other side, Shiite militias have rallied around Mr al-Maliki's government to fight back against the militant advance.

In the far north, Kurds have taken advantage of the mayhem to seize disputed territory - including the city of Kirkuk, a major oil centre - and move closer to a long-held dream of their own state.

Kurdish fighters say they only want to protect the areas from Sunni militants. Many of the areas have significant Kurdish populations that they have demanded for years be incorporated into their territory.

These moves have infuriated Mr al-Maliki, who is under pressure from opponents as well as former allies to step down.

The photographs of the destroyed churches and mosques that emerged last week were posted on a website which frequently carries official statements from ISIS.

Some of them showed bulldozers plowing through walls, while others featured buildings being demolished by explosives in a cloud of smoke and rubble.

Three Sunni clerics were also killed by ISIS gunmen in Mosul after calling on locals to reject the terror group and refusing to leave the city, authorities said.

The victims were Khattab Hassan, 43, Riyadh al-Wandi, 39, and 48-year-old Abdul Ghafoor Salman.

Today, archbishops from Baghdad, Mosul and Kirkuk said the violence in Iraq is hastening the end of nearly 2,000 years of Christianity there as the few remaining faithful flee Islamic State militants.

War and sectarian conflict have shrunk Iraq's Christian population to about 400,000 from 1.5million before the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, they said on a visit to Brussels seeking European Union help to protect their flocks.

And now, even those who stayed are leaving for Turkey, Lebanon and western Europe, they claimed.

The three - Chaldean Catholic Patriarch Louis Raphael Sako, Syrian Catholic Archbishop of Mosul Yohanna Petros Mouche and Kirkuk's Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Youssif Mirkis - are all Eastern Catholics whose churches have their own traditional liturgy but are loyal to the pope in Rome.

'The next days will be very bad. If the situation does not change, Christians will be left with just a symbolic presence in Iraq,' said Sako, who is based in Baghdad

'If they leave, their history is finished.'