Islamists in northern Mali have drawn both domestic and international condemnation after they destroyed seven historic tombs and the door to an ancient mosque in Timbuktu over the weekend. The shrines to the saints are important to local Sufi Muslims, but Mali’s Islamists say that such religious landmarks constitute idolatry.

Mali has been unstable since a military coup sparked fighting in March. Much of the country is still in grave turmoil, with Islamist group Ansar Dine now in control of the north. In the face of such an uncertain future, theUnited Nations’ cultural agency just last week listed Timbuktu as an endangered world heritage site.

Now the BBC reports that Sanda Ould Boumama, Ansar Dine’s spokesman, says his group will “destroy every mausoleum in the city – all of them, without exception.”