Islamist militants destroyed ancient tombs of Muslim saints in Mali's fabled city, sparking international condemnation.

Islamist militants destroyed ancient tombs of Muslim saints in Mali's fabled city, sparking international condemnation. Photo: AFP

UN CULTURAL body UNESCO has watched in horror as Mali Islamic fundamentalists ravaged fabled Timbuktu shrines it had listed as endangered sites just days before.

Islamist militants, swinging pickaxes and shouting God's praise, destroyed ancient tombs of Muslim saints in Mali's fabled city, sparking international condemnation.

The rampage of destruction in the UNESCO-designated world-heritage city comes after three months of unrest in Mali's remote desert north which has raised fears of a new Islamist extremist haven in west Africa

Timbuktu?s ancient tombs had just been listed by UNESCO as endangered world heritage sites.

Timbuktu's ancient tombs had just been listed by UNESCO as endangered world heritage sites. Photo: AFP

Ansar Dine and other al-Qaeda-linked militant groups have imposed strict Islamic law since sweeping across northern Mali in the chaotic aftermath of a March 22 coup in the capital Bamako.

''They have raped Timbuktu today. It is a crime,'' said a source close to a local imam in Timbuktu, known as the ''City of 333 Saints''.

Witnesses said the Islamists, who regard shrines as idolatrous, had destroyed the tombs of Sidi Mahmoud, Sidi Moctar and Alpha Moya.

In addition to three historic mosques, Timbuktu is home to 16 cemeteries and mausoleums, according to the UNESCO website.

The destruction is reminiscent of the Taliban blowing up the giant Buddhas of the Bamiyan Valley in Afghanistan - an ancient Buddhist site on the Silk Road - in March 2001 after branding them un-Islamic.

UNESCO interrupted its annual meeting in Saint Petersburg to try to draw global attention to news filtering in from the ancient African caravan town.

''This is tragic news for us all and even more so for the inhabitants of Timbuktu, who have cherished and preserved this monument over more than seven centuries,'' UNESCO session chairwoman Yeleonor Mitrofanova said.

''I appeal to all those engaged in the conflict in Timbuktu to exercise their responsibility: for the sake of future generations, spare the legacy of their past,'' she pleaded.

The rampage added a bitterly painful new cultural dimension to an uprising that started with an army coup in March and has since unravelled into conflict between rival groups of gunmen as well as the state.

The raid came as a particularly brutal blow to UNESCO because the heritage committee had only on Thursday placed both Timbuktu and the nearby Tomb of Askia on its List of World Heritage in Danger.

UNESCO had expressed concerns in Saint Petersburg that ancient artifacts could be smuggled out of the country and possibly sold.

The UN agency appeared shocked that gunmen had decided to simply erase all trace of the treasures instead.

AFP