Italy proposed move in wake of destruction of sites including Palmyra in Syria by Islamic State

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

UN peacekeepers will protect world heritage sites from attacks by Islamist militants, Unesco has said.

Italy proposed the move in the wake of the destruction of sites including Palmyra in Syria by Islamic State. The Italian culture minister, Dario Franceschini, said 53 countries, as well as permanent members of the security council, had voted in favour of the idea.

“Faced with IS terrorist attacks and the terrible images of Palmyra, the international community cannot stand back and watch,” he said. Franceschini said UN peacekeepers would be able to draw on the expertise of Italy’s cultural and heritage police.



Palmyra – what the world has lost Read more

In August the head of Unesco described the destruction of an ancient Roman temple in Palmyra as a war crime. Isis seized control of Palmyra in May and has destroyed some of the most prized sites in the ancient city.

The militants have carried out a sustained campaign of destruction against heritage sites in areas under their control in Syria and Iraq, including the important Iraqi sites of Hatra, Nimrud and Khorsabad, an ancient Assyrian capital.

Isis militants are also accused of being behind attacks on 10 religious and historic monuments in the world heritage-listed city of Timbuktu in Mali.