While fighting ISIS militants in Mosul, Iraqi troops have found archaeological treasures uncovered in the tunnels. Two winged bulls carved from stone and dating from the Assyrian empire have been found intact in network of ISIS tunnels. The artefacts date back to the eighth century BC in the Assyrian period and hail from the palace of king Esarhaddon whose existence to the area was known to the Iraqi archaeologists.
Jihadists used the underground labyrinth to sell on the black market, after they recaptured east Mosul at the end of January.
"We fear it could all collapse at any time," said Layla Salih who is in charge of antiquities of Nineveh province. Jihadists have destroyed every archeological treasure they captured so it will be a race against time to save these archeological treasures from their hands.