Malian Islamists attack world heritage site mosques in Timbuktu – in pictures

Islamist rebels of Ansar Dine near Timbuktu, in rebel-held northern Mali. Ansar Dine have vowed to destroy mosques if they contain shrines to Sufi saints Photograph: Romaric Ollo Hien/AFP/Getty Images

A still from a video taken on 1 July 2012 shows the entrance to the cemetery of three saints in Timbuktu, destroyed by Islamist militants Photograph: STR/AFP/Getty Images

The Djinguereber mosque in Timbuktu. The UN cultural organisation UNESCO has listed Mali's legendary town of Timbuktu as an endangered world heritage site because of the deadly unrest hitting the west African nation Photograph: Issouf Sanogo/AFP/Getty Images

Ancient manuscripts are displayed at the library in Timbuktu. Cheick Oumar Cisse, a former culture minister and one of Mali's most famous film-makers, said: 'It's good that these things are being labelled crimes but it is not even the worst thing these terrorists have done' Photograph: Evan Schneider/AFP/Getty Images

A mosque in the city of Timbuktu. Ansar Dine and the Tuareg separatist MNLA movement say the local monuments and distinctive sun-baked mosques are idolatrous and contrary to their strict interpretation of Islam. Sanda Banama, an Ansar Dine spokesman, says the monuments are 'un-Islamic' Photograph: Evan Schneider/AFP/Getty Images

A still from a video shows Islamist militants destroying an ancient shrine in Timbuktu on 1 July. Ecowas, the economic community of west African states, is considering presenting a military plan to the UN security council as militant Islamists, already thriving on a 'kidnap economy' operating out of the country's northern desert, have flourished Photograph: STR/AFP/Getty Images

A still from a video shows an Islamist militant after destroying an ancient shrine in Timbuktu. 'There is a door that absolutely cannot be opened at the entrance of the [Sidi Yahya] mosque,' said Haidrata, a resident who gave only his first name. 'We believe it is a profanity to open this door; it can only be opened on the day the world will end. The militants broke it down' Photograph: STR/AFP/Getty Images

Sankore mosque in Timbuktu Photograph: dbimages/Alamy

The International Criminal Court's new chief prosecutor, Gambian lawyer Fatou Bensouda, gives an interview in Dakar. 'My message to those involved in these criminal acts is clear: stop the destruction of the religious buildings now,' she says Photograph: Mamadou Toure Behan/AFP/Getty Images

People sit in a street in Timbuktu. Thousands of Malians have flocked to neighbouring Mauritania, Niger and Burkina Faso, triggering a potential refugee crisis along its fragile borders Photograph: Habibou Kouyate/AFP/Getty Images