Vile masked Islamists use sledgehammers to destroy graves of British war heroes
Vile masked Islamists use sledgehammers to destroy graves of British war heroes
BARBARIC ISIS militants have desecrated the graves of British war heroes with sledgehammers and crowbars while on a senseless rampage.
By Rebecca Flood, Express, June 26 2017
A dozen masked militia ripped apart a cemetery in the former British colony of Aden
A dozen masked militia ripped apart a cemetery in the former British colony of Aden, Yemen.
Nearly two thousand graves were vandalised in the spree of destruction and St Joseph Church, which overlooks the graveyard, was razed to the ground.
Wielding their tools, the fanatics smashed 1,927 graves and monuments at the Hafoon Cemetery in Maal.
They contain the remains of British military personnel who served in the forces between 1839 and 1967.
The destruction happened in December 2015, but despite years passing nothing has been done to restore the graves.
Peace negotiator Dominic Ryan, 46, took the shocking photos in a bid to galvanise a response and clean-up effort.
He said: “I would hope that these pictures might initiate a response to get people to come here and restore the cemetery.”
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission said it had bene unable to repair the damage because of the instability and conflict in the region.
Tory MP Johnny Mercer said: “The people who did it will never know the sort of qualities and principles that those men fought for and died for.”
Among the graves targeted is one belonging to Royal Navy Reserve Francis Fantha.
The seaman died aged 22 in 1940, from an unspecified illness while aboard the HMS Carlisle.
His granite headstone, with an engraved naval anchor and cross, now lies in pieces.
His nephew, Derek Forrester, 68, of Swanley, Kent, said: “It’s an appalling act of vandalism and shows complete disregard for all those buried there.
The damage was caused in the port city during the Civil War, and ISIS and Al-Queda capitalised on the unrest to launch strikes.
The bloodthirsty group are well known for destroying monuments and historical buildings, the most recent example is the Great Mosque of al-Nuri, in Mosul, which was blown up by fleeing fighters.
Famed for its leaning minaret, the site - where ISIS declared their caliphate in 2014 - had stood at the site for the past 850 years.
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