Video purports to show Islamic State militants bombing ruins at ancient Iraqi city of Nimrud

In this image made from video posted on a militant social media account affiliated with the Islamic State group late Saturday, April 11, 2015, purports to show militants destroying the ancient Iraqi Assyrian city of Nimrud, a site dating back to the 13th century B.C., near the militant-held city of Mosul, Iraq. The destruction at Nimrud, follows other attacks on antiquity carried out by the group now holding a third of Iraq and neighboring Syria in its self-declared caliphate. The attacks have horrified archaeologists and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who last month called the destruction at Nimrud "a war crime."(militant video via AP) (The Associated Press)

In this image made from video posted on a militant social media account affiliated with the Islamic State group late Saturday, April 11, 2015, purports to show a militant taking a sledgehammer to an Assyrian relief at the site of the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud, which dates back to the 13th century B.C., near the militant-held city of Mosul, Iraq. The destruction at Nimrud, follows other attacks on antiquity carried out by the group now holding a third of Iraq and neighboring Syria in its self-declared caliphate. The attacks have horrified archaeologists and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who last month called the destruction at Nimrud "a war crime."(militant video via AP) (The Associated Press)

An online video purports to show Islamic State militants bombing ruins at the ancient Iraqi city of Nimrud.

The video, posted late Saturday, showed militants using sledgehammers, jackhammers, a bulldozer and ultimately explosives to level the site, located near the militant-held city of Mosul.

Some of the figures in the video appeared to have rebar, ribbed bars of steels designed to reinforce concrete that are a technique of modern building. An Iraqi Antiquities Ministry official, speaking Sunday on condition of anonymity, said all the items at Nimrud were authentic. In March, both Iraqi and United Nations officials warned the site had been looted and damaged.

The video conformed to other Associated Press reporting about the militants' attack.

One militant on the video said: "God has honored us to remove all of these idols and statutes." The Islamic State group, which holds a third of Iraq and neighboring Syria in its self-declared caliphate, has been destroying ancient relics they say promote idolatry that violates their fundamentalist interpretation of Islamic law. Authorities also believe they've sold others on the black market to fund their atrocities.

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Associated Press writer Maamoun Youssef in Cairo contributed to this report.