UN to deploy peacekeepers to protect world heritage sites | World news | The Guardian
▻http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/17/un-peacekeepers-protect-world-heritage-sites-isis
UN peacekeepers will protect world heritage sites from attacks by Islamist militants, Unesco has said.
Italy proposed the move in the wake of the destruction of sites including Palmyra in Syria by Islamic State. The Italian culture minister, Dario Franceschini, said 53 countries, as well as permanent members of the security council, had voted in favour of the idea.
“Faced with IS terrorist attacks and the terrible images of Palmyra, the international community cannot stand back and watch,” he said. Franceschini said UN peacekeepers would be able to draw on the expertise of Italy’s cultural and heritage police.