Summary
BAGHDAD: When ISIS invaded the Central Library of Mosul earlier this month, they were on a mission to destroy a familiar enemy: other people's ideas.
Mosul, the biggest city in ISIS' self-declared caliphate, boasts a relatively educated, diverse population that seeks to preserve its heritage sites and libraries.
Presumed destroyed are the Central Library's collection of Iraqi newspapers dating to the early 20th century, maps and books from the Ottoman Empire and book collections contributed by around 100 of Mosul's establishment families.
Days after the Central Library's ransacking, militants broke into University of Mosul's library.
Since routing government forces and seizing Mosul last summer, ISIS has destroyed dozens of historic sites, including the centuries-old Islamic mosque shrines of the prophets Seth, Jirjis and Jonah.
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