(ISIL) and al-Nusra Front sell Maalula’s artifacts via internet

Reports have revealed that members of al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) have started a new trade.
Where, in Maalula, they have roped all the antiques, artifacts, ancient sarcophagi and crosses to sell them through brokers and smugglers outside the Syrian territory. As well as they promote them by sending photos via internet to the interested people in buying antiquities, the Lebanese newspaper “al-Akhbar” citing field sources.
The head the United Nations’ cultural, education and science organization (UNESCO) has expressed concern about the illegal mining operations on the historical artifacts in Syria, saying that the organization warned the auction houses and museums of this problem.
“Irina Bokova,” told reporters that: “The biggest problem there, apart from the devastation that we have seen on the World Heritage websites, is the illegal mining operations on the antiquities.”

Source: Breaking News Network