"I wish to express my sadness and my solidarity with the Iraqi people after this heinous and cowardly attack against a cultural and religious place, in the middle of the Aïd festivities, and less than a week after the terrible attack that killed 300 people in Baghdad and shook Iraq and the world. Iraq is suffering from a cultural cleansing which is killing human lives and accompanied by the destruction of heritage as a symbol of diversity, freedom of religion and thought. These crimes strike at the essence of our common humanity, and the international community must unite in both actions and words, without distinction of origin or religion, to show that if violence knows no border, so does solidarity” declared the Director-General.