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‘There’s Nothing to Rebuild’: Satellite Photos Show ISIS Destruction of Iraqi Holy Site

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This combination of two satellite images provided by DigitalGlobe, taken on March 31, 2011, and Sept. 28, 2014, shows the site of the 1,400-year-old Christian monastery known as St. Elijah's, or Dair Mar Elia, on the outskirts of Mosul, Iraq. These satellite photos obtained by The Associated Press in January 2016 confirm what church leaders and Middle East preservationists had feared: The monastery confirms was preservationists had feared, as it has been reduced to a field of rubble by ISIS.
This combination of two satellite images, taken on March 31, 2011, and Sept. 28, 2014, shows the site of the 1,400-year-old Christian monastery known as St. Elijah's on the outskirts of Mosul, Iraq.DigitalGlobe/AP
By Andrew Katz

Among the latest victims of ISIS, the militant group known as much for its brutal killings as its propaganda, is a 1,400-year-old Christian monastery in Iraq.

An aerial image captured by a DigitalGlobe satellite, at the request of the Associated Press, confirmed that the St. Elijah’s Monastery, located on a hill above Mosul, now lies in rubble. An analyst who looked at images for AP estimated that ISIS decimated it between Aug. 27 and Sept. 28, 2014, months after the militants staged a lightning offensive through northern Iraq. “There’s nothing to rebuild,” said Stephen Wood, CEO of Allsource Analysis.’

See ISIS’s Destruction of the Ancient City Palmyra

This undated photo released Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2015 on a social media site used by Islamic State militants, which has been verified and is consistent with other AP reporting, shows smoke from the detonation of the 2,000-year-old temple of Baalshamin in Syria's ancient caravan city of Palmyra. A resident of the city said the temple was destroyed on Sunday, a month after the group's militants booby-trapped it with explosives. Arabic at bottom reads, "The moment of detonation of the pagan Baalshamin temple in the city of Palmyra." (Islamic State social media account via AP)
This undated photo released on Aug. 25, 2015 on a social media site used by Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants shows smoke from the detonation of the 2,000-year-old temple of Baalshamin in the ancient caravan city of Palmyra, Syria.AP
This undated photo released Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2015 on a social media site used by Islamic State militants, which has been verified and is consistent with other AP reporting, shows shows militants laying explosives in the 2,000-year-old temple of Baalshamin in Syria's ancient caravan city of Palmyra. A resident of the city said the temple was destroyed on Sunday, a month after the group's militants booby-trapped it with explosives. The U.N. cultural agency UNESCO on Monday called the destruction of the temple a war crime. (Islamic State social media account via AP)
This undated photo released on Aug. 25, 2015 on a social media site used by ISIS militants shows militants laying explosives in the 2,000-year-old temple of Baalshamin in Palmyra, Syria.AP
This undated photo released Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2015 on a social media site used by Islamic State militants, which has been verified and is consistent with other AP reporting, shows the 2,000-year-old temple of Baalshamin in Syria's ancient caravan city of Palmyra rigged with explosives. A resident of the city said the temple was destroyed on Sunday, a month after the group's militants booby-trapped it with explosives. The U.N. cultural agency UNESCO on Monday called the destruction of the temple a war crime. (Islamic State social media account via AP)
This undated photo released on Aug. 25, 2015 on a social media site used by ISIS militants, shows the 2,000-year-old temple of Baalshamin in Palmyra, Syria, rigged with explosives.AP
This undated photo released Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2015 on a social media site used by Islamic State militants, which has been verified and is consistent with other AP reporting, shows the demolished 2,000-year-old temple of Baalshamin in Syria's ancient caravan city of Palmyra. A resident of the city said the temple was destroyed on Sunday, a month after the group's militants booby-trapped it with explosives. The U.N. cultural agency UNESCO on Monday called the destruction of the temple a war crime. (Islamic State social media account via AP)
This undated photo released on Aug. 25, 2015 on a social media site used by ISIS militants shows the demolished 2,000-year-old temple of Baalshamin in Palmyra, Syria.AP

The monastery, known as Dair Mar Elia, joins a grim and expanding list of holy sites targeted by ISIS, including an ancient temple in Palmyra, Syria.

 

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