article: A shocking video has emerged of ISIS thugs using sledgehammers and AK-47 rifles to destroy walls and statues in Iraq's UNESCO World Heritage city of Hatra. In the slickly produced seven minute footage, jihadists are shown smashing shrines and statues in the 2,000-year old city. Militants are also recorded chipping away at the bases of some of the larger wall sculptures and cracking boulders into ancient city pillars, while eerie music plays in the background. Scroll down for video . In the video, ISIS thugs balanced precariously on top of ladders are filmed smashing ancient relics in the heritage site . Balanced on top of a ladder, a jihadist is recorded cracking a carved head repeatedly on the side of the wall . The relic then cracks into pieces and falls to the ground in the latest act of destruction by the terrorist group in Hatra . Militants are filmed firing AK-47 rifles at relics in the UNESCO heritage site in the city of Hatra while music plays in the background . On top a ladder, an ISIS thug cracks a historic artefact with a heavy hammer in the Iraqi city of Hatra . Having successfully completed the job, he climbs down the ladder as the ancient relic falls with a crash to the earth . In the clip, ISIS thugs - many of whom are wearing trainers - are recorded smashing ancient relics in Hatra . The video cuts to jihadists speaking directly to the camera with one declaring they destroyed the site because it is 'worshipped instead of God'. Elsewhere in the clip, ISIS thugs balanced precariously on ladders use a hammer to bang repeatedly on the back of carved faces on the side of the ancient walls until they topple with a crash to the ground. They are also filmed blasting Kalashnikov rifles at artefacts in the city that was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987. The footage was posted to a militant website frequently used by the terrorist organisation. ISIS currently controls a swath of land slightly larger than the UK, from Aleppo to central Iraq. The fanatics claim ancient relics are 'false idols' which promote idolatry that violates their fundamentalist interpretation of Islamic law. Authorities also believe they have been sold on the black market to fund their atrocities. In the shocking footage, ISIS thugs batter relics they claim are 'false idols' in the 2,000-year old city of Hatra . The fanatics claim  relics  promote idolatry that violates their fundamentalist interpretation of Islamic law . A militant chips away at a pillar in Hatra with a pickaxe - the UN has called their actions a 'war crime' A militant slams his axe into a pillar in the World Heritage site - ISIS believes statues and shrines are un-Islamic 'false idols' that must be destroyed . A militant takes aim at three religious relics on the side of a historic building in the 2,000-year old city . An ISIS thug hacks away at the side of the historic walls with a hammer, smashing it into pieces as they fall to the ground . In between the shocking acts of destruction, the video pans to two militants speaking and brandishing their fingers directly into the camera . The slickly produced seven minute clip begins with an aerial shot over the ancient site where relics have been destroyed by ISIS . Hatra, 68 miles southwest of ISIS-held city of Mosul, is 2,000 years old and is a UNESCO World Heritage site . ISIS have destroyed ancient relics such as this in Hatra, as they violates their fundamentalist interpretation of Islamic law . Last month, ISIS terrorists were pictured toppling crosses, smashing Christian relics with hammers and erecting the black flag of ISIS on churches in Nineveh, the ancient capital of the Assyrian empire. Pictured in civilian clothing, the ISIS thugs were seen overturning statues, destroying religious icons and replacing Christian crosses with the chilling ISIS banner. Elsewhere, ISIS went on a rampage in the Assyrian city of Nimrud in northern Iraq, destroying the 3,000 year-old winged statues placed at the gates of the Palace of Ashurnasirpal. The jihadists also bulldozed ruins in Hatra in March. ISIS have also set off bombs around Mosul Central Library, destroying as many as 10,000 priceless and irreplaceable books and manuscripts. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon called the Nimrud attack 'a war crime.' Hatra, 68 miles southwest of the ISIS-held city of Mosul, was a large fortified city during the Parthian Empire and capital of the first Arab kingdom. It is home to numerous temples and sculptures dedicated to gods including Apollo and Poseidon. The video comes in the wake of a major blow for ISIS, with Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit falling into the hands of the Iraqi government. Tikrit is 80 miles north of Baghdad on the main highway to Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city. Meanwhile Isis has taken control of 90 per cent of a Palestinian refugee camp on the outskirts of Damascus - only a few kilometres from Bashar al-Assad's stronghold. A human rights monitoring group claimed that the terror organisation almost has full control of the camp which has a population of 18,000 civilians. The United Nations said it was very concerned about the safety of the population. Chris Gunness of the UN Relief and Works agency said: 'The situation in Yarmouk is an affront to the humanity of all of us, a source of universal shame. 'Yarmouk is a test, a challenge for the international community. We must not fail. The credibility of the international system itself is at stake.' The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights warned that the population of the camp are under threat of death from Isis, hunger and disease. Hatra is 68 miles southwest of the city of Mosul. It dates back 2,000 years to the Seleucid empire which controlled a large part of the ancient world conquered by Alexander the Great. It is famous for its striking pillared temple at the centre of a sprawling archaeological site. The ancient city, a UNESCO world heritage site, is said to have withstood invasions by the Romans thanks to its high, thick walls reinforced by towers. A temple to the Shamash sun god still stands more than 1,750 years after the Sassanian empire razed the Mesopotamian city. The ancient trading centre in Hatra spanned 4 miles in circumference and was supported by more than 160 towers. At its heart are a series of temples with a grand temple at the center — a structure supported by columns that once rose to 100 feet.
highlights: Jihadists shown smashing shrines and statues in 2,000-year old city that was declared a World Heritage site in 1987 .
  ISIS thugs recorded on ladders using hammers and AK-47s to smash down historic relics on the ancient walls .
  The fanatics claim relics are 'false idols' which promote idolatry that violate their interpretation of Islamic law .
  Authorities also believe they have been sold on the black market by the terrorist group to fund their atrocities .
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