The video shows Takfiri extremists in balaclavas and black coats destroying tombs with sledgehammers, amidst swirls of dust and piles of rocks. It is unknown when the video was taken.

Iraqi authorities, according to the Daily Mail, have confirmed that one of the smashed graves belonged to the Prophet Jonah (Younis in Arabic), who is revered by Muslims and Christians alike and is best known as the main character of the Book of Jonah.

According to the famous story of prophet, he was swallowed by a giant fish. He is regarded as a saint by a number of Christian denominations.

"Elements of ISIL [have] controlled the mosque of the Prophet Younis in Mosul since they invaded the city,” Ninevah official Zuhair Al-Chalabi was cited as saying.

Along with Prophet Jonah’s tomb, ISIL also reportedly destroyed the shrine of the prophet Shayth (Seth).

Takfiri radicals overran Mosul last month and torched 11 Christian churches, monasteries and mosques in and around the historic northern Iraqi city.

Mosul was captured on June 10 when Takfiri militants drove the Iraqi army out of the city.

Thousands of civilians fled as extremists took control of the city in their battle against the central government in Baghdad.

On June 30, ISIL terrorists declared the captured territories from Iraq's Diyala province to Syria's Aleppo a self-ruled "caliphate".

NTJ/NJF