BASRA, Iraq – Iraqi officials have seized 228 ancient artefacts, some looted from Iraq’s National Museum, which smugglers intended to take out of the country.
The senior military commander of Basra, 420km (260 miles) southeast of Baghdad, said officials had arrested seven men during a military operation yesterday. He said they planned to smuggle the ancient treasures out of Iraq.
Thousands of priceless antiquities belonging to Iraq, known by historians as the cradle of civilisation, were looted in the aftermath of the US-led invasion in 2003.
Much was stolen from the Baghdad National Museum, but many thousands of more pieces were taken from some 10,000 poorly guarded archaeological sites scattered around the country.
Among the artefacts were 45 statues of Babylonian and Sumerian kings made from mud or stone, along with stamps, plates and jewellery.
Lieut Muneer Khalid said the smugglers intended to take the artefacts into Kuwait.
Some 15,000 artefacts have been stolen from the museum since the invasion five years ago, with about 6,000 returned so far.