Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, expressed her grave concern over the destruction of Mar Elia monastery in Iraq.
She said that such attack against 1400 years old monastery comes against the Iraqi people as well as humanity.
She explained that such attack is a war crime and evidence of the ongoing cultural cleansing in Iraq.
UNESCO promised to protect the heritage of Iraq and to fight against the illicit trade in cultural holdings, which contribute to the financing of terrorism.
