PARIS (AFP) - The head of Unesco condemned on Friday the destruction of the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud in Iraq by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group, saying it amounted to a "war crime".

"I condemn with the strongest force the destruction of the site at Nimrud," Irina Bokova said in a statement. "We cannot stay silent. The deliberate destruction of cultural heritage constitutes a war crime, and I call on all political and religious leaders in the region to stand up against this new barbarity."