Islamist Destroy Timbuktu's Ancient Mausoleums

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"Not a single mausoleum will remain in Timbuktu," Abou Dardar, a leader of the Islamist group Ansar Dine, told AFP news agency. 

Islamists in control of northern Mali began earlier this year to pull down shrines that they consider idolatrous. 

Tourist official Sane Chirfi said four mausoleums had been razed on Sunday. 

One resident told AFP that the Islamists were destroying the shrines with pickaxes.Continue reading the main storyTreasures of TimbuktuTimbuktu was a centre of Islamic learning from the 13th to the 17th centuries.

What the world lost:  

• 700,000 manuscripts survive in public libraries and private collections

• Books on religion, law, literature and science

• Letters between rulers, officials and merchants on issues such as taxes, trade, marriage and prostitution

• Added to Unesco world heritage list in 1988 for its three mosques and 16 cemeteries and mausoleums

• They played a major role in spreading Islam in West Africa; the oldest dates from 1329

Timbuktu was a centre of Islamic learning from the 13th to the 17th centuries.

It is a UN World Heritage site with centuries-old shrines to Islamic saints that are revered by Sufi Muslims.

The Salafists of Ansar Dine condemn the veneration of saints. 

"Allah doesn't like it," said Abou Dardar. "We are in the process of smashing all the hidden mausoleums in the area."