AP has obtained satellite photos which confirm what Middle East preservationists had feared – the oldest Christian monastery in Iraq has been destroyed by ISIS during their campaign to destroy Christian heritage sites the group considers heretical. Rev. Paul Thabit Habib, a Catholic priest, told the Wall Street Journal:

“Our Christian history in Mosul is being barbarically leveled. We see it as an attempt to expel us from Iraq, eliminating and finishing our existence in this land.”

Constructed by Assyrian monks in 590 AD, St. Elijah’s Monastery stood on a hill near the northern city of Mosul for over 1,400 years.

The image below shows the monastery before ISIS destroyed it.

The image below shows the monastery’s remains.

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