Iraq ancient ruins open up to tourism after IS atrocities
STROLLING along the ancient ruins of Hatra in Iraq’s north, dozens of visitors admired the site, where local initiatives seek to turn over a new leaf after a brief but brutal jihadist rule.
Designated an endangered world heritage site by Unesco, Hatra dates back to the 2nd and 3rd centuries BC.
It is a 2-hour drive from Mosul, the former “capital” proclaimed by the Islamic State (IS) group, which was recaptured in 2017 by Iraqi forces and an international coalition that backed them.
A tour of the site on Saturday (Sep 10), the first of its kind organised by a private museum in Mosul, aimed to boost tourism in the area.
Some 40 visitors, most of them Iraqis, were allowed to walk around the more than 2,000-year-old archaeological site in the golden hour of twilight.
The tourists took selfies in front of impressive colonnades and inspected the reliefs vandalised by IS jihadists.