Jihadis in Iraq have smashed ancient statues to pieces with sledgehammers in the second city Mosul, sparking global outrage, in the latest loss of world cultural heritage to conflict.

Some precedents: MALI: The fabled desert city of Timbuktu, named the "City of 33 Saints," and listed by UNESCO, was subjected for months to brutal Islamic law. In June 2012 Al-Qaeda-linked militants destroyed 15 of the northern city's mausoleums, important buildings that date back to the golden age of Timbuktu as an economic, intellectual and spiritual center in the 15th and 16th centuries, UNESCO reported.

Hundreds of members of the Taliban from across the country for more than three weeks set about demolishing the gigantic statues.

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