Shocking new images released today have shown ISIS terrorists toppling crosses , smashing Christian relics with hammers and erecting the black flag of ISIS on churches in Iraq . The latest photos show the militants vandalising churches in Nineveh , the ancient capital of the Assyrian empire . Pictured in civilian clothing , the ISIS thugs are seen overturning statues , destroying religious icons and replacing Christian crosses with the chilling ISIS banner . This chilling image shows an ISIS thug destroying a cross on a church and replacing it with the ISIS banner . Dressed in civilian clothing , a militant takes a claw hammer to a priceless relief at a Nineveh church . ISIS have killed Christians who have refused to convert to Islam and want to cleanse its caliphate of its Christian heritage . The disturbing images - provided by the Middle East Media Research Institute ( MEMRI ) - are the latest evidence of ISIS trying to cleanse its caliphate of its Christian heritage . ISIS claim ancient relics promote idolatry that violates their fundamentalist interpretation of Islamic law . MEMRI director Steven Stalinsky said : 'They do n't care what it 's called ; they are just following their ideology and that means getting rid of churches and minorities . It is the Islamic State , and there 's no room for anyone else . 'This has been going on for some time , a systematic campaign to rid the region of any vestiges of Christianity . ' In February , the terrorist organisation decapitated 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians on the shores of Libya and then kidnapped more than 220 Assyrian Christians when militants swept into about 12 villages . Thousands of other Iraqi Christians have fled their homes in fear and are having to find temporary accommodation in the surrounding region . Archbishop Silvano Tomasi , the Vatican 's top diplomat at the UN in Geneva , said yesterday the jihadists were committing 'genocide ' and must be stopped . The Vatican traditionally opposes military intervention in the region . ISIS claim ancient relics promote idolatry that violates their fundamentalist interpretation of Islamic law . Two ISIS militants overturn a cross on a Christian site in Nineveh in the organisation 's latest shocking act . ISIS currently controls a swath of land slightly larger than the UK , from Aleppo to central Iraq . The fanatics have caused outrage by destroying several ancient relics and sites in Iraq recently , as well as books and rare manuscripts . Earlier this month , 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 . They also bulldozed 2,000-year-old Hatra - another UNESCO World Heritage site . In recent weeks , ISIS have also set off bombs around Mosul Central Library , destroying as many as 10,000 priceless and irreplaceable books and manuscripts . Nineveh , in northern Iraq , was once the largest city in the world with a population of as many as 150,000 people in 700BC - it lies close to Mosul , the largest city under ISIS control .
ISIS militants pictured toppling crosses and smashing relics in Nineveh . Latest evidence of ISIS trying to cleanse caliphate of Christian heritage . Also attacked ancient city of Nimrud and 2000-year-old fortress city Hatra .