'Ancient ' statues filmed being destroyed by depraved Islamic State militants in a Mosul museum last month were nothing more than worthless fakes , the director of an Iraqi museum has claimed . The terrorist organisation released shocking footage at the end of February purportedly showing jihadis destroying 3,000-year-old artworks with sledgehammers in their northern Iraqi stronghold . But now Baghdad museum director Fawzye al-Mahdi has ridiculed ISIS ' propaganda exercise , claiming the genuine priceless Assyrian and Akkadian statues and sculptures are still safely in his possession in the Iraqi capital , adding that those in Mosul were plaster cast replicas . Sick : The terrorist organisation released shocking footage at the end of February purportedly showing jihadis destroying 3,000-year-old artworks with sledgehammers in their northern Iraqi stronghold . Speaking to German news programme Deutsche Welle , Al-Mahdi said : 'None of the artifacts are originals ... They were copies . The originals are all here . ' The museum director 's claims appear to back-up those made by experts on the Iraqi statues . Within hours of the original ISIS propaganda video being released , analysts questioned why the statues appeared to crumble so easily . Others stated that they could n't possibly be 3,000 years old as some of the are clearly held together by iron poles - a considerably more modern practice . Mark Altaweel , an expert at the Institute of Archaeology at University College , London , told Channel 4 News at the time : 'You can see iron bars inside ... The originals do n't have iron bars . ' Propaganda : Baghdad museum director Fawzye al-Mahdi ridiculed ISIS ' video , claiming the genuine Assyrian and Akkadian statues are safely in Baghdad and that those in Mosul were plaster cast replicas . Following the February video release , Mosul 's exiled governor Atheel Nuafi also stated that the vast majority of the statues were fakes , but added that at least two of those destroyed were originals . 'There were two items that were real and which the militants destroyed . One is a Winged Bull and the other was the God of Rozhan , ' the Saudi-based Al Arabiya news organisation quoted him as saying . The Winged Bull , which is seen being smashed with sledgehammers in the video , is probably one which stood at the gates of Nineveh in the 7th century BC , claimed the International Business Times . ' I think the Winged Bull is very important locally , because it 's one of the few objects that has n't left the country or gone to Baghdad , ' Eleanor Robson , chair of the British Institute for the Study of Iraq , told the news organisation . Real : An ISIS militant uses a power tool to destroy a 7th century winged-bull Assyrian protective deity . The statue is thought to have been one of only two genuine artifacts destroyed by ISIS in the video . Until 2003 , Mosul museum had the second biggest collection of ancient relics in Iraq , including thousands of items from Nineveh and other ancient centers of Northern Mesopotamia . Amid the Western military operation against Saddam Hussein that year , looters ransacked the building . Employees managed to save the majority of the items , and then moved most to Baghdad . ISIS militants began destroying ancient statues and monuments shortly after they first seized control of Mosul last summer , describing them as 'worthless idols ' . A man shown in the video said the items were being destroyed because they promoted idolatry . 'The Prophet ordered us to get rid of statues and relics , and his companions did the same when they conquered countries after him , ' the unidentified man said . Historic loss : Large segments of the priceless winged-bull Assyrian protective deity are hurled to the ground as militants smash it to pieces . Mosul , the biggest city in the Islamic State group 's self-declared caliphate , boasts a relatively educated , diverse population that seeks to preserve its heritage sites and libraries . In the chaos that followed the U.S.-led invasion of 2003 that toppled Saddam Hussein , residents near the Central Library hid some of its centuries-old manuscripts in their own homes to prevent their theft or destruction by looters . But this time , the Islamic State group has made the penalty for such actions death . A University of Mosul history professor , who spoke on condition he not be named because of his fear of the Islamic State group , said the extremists started wrecking the collections of other public libraries in December . He reported particularly heavy damage to the archives of a Sunni Muslim library , the library of the 265-year-old Latin Church and Monastery of the Dominican Fathers and the Mosul Museum Library with works dating back to 5000 BC .
ISIS jihadis released video showing the destruction of 'ancient ' sculptures . But the ancient artifacts destroyed were mostly fake , art expert claims . Director of Baghdad museum says he is looking after authentic versions . Sculptures seen in film were almost all plaster cast replicas , which explains why they crumbled so easily and were held together by iron bars . But two genuine 3,000-year-old statues were destroyed by the terrorists .