Timbuktu and 9 Other Threatened UNESCO Heritage Sites

A growing number of world heritage sites have come under attack in the last few years, with the most recent being militant Islamists’ destruction of cultural treasures in Timbuktu, Mali.

Georgia's Patriarch Ilia II (R) blesses Georgia's re-elected President Mikhail Saakashvili (C) in the Bagrati Cathedral on Jan. 21, 2008. Irakli Gedenidze/AFP/Getty Images

A growing number of world heritage sites have come under attack in the last few years, with the most recent being militant Islamists’ destruction of cultural treasures in Timbuktu, Mali. 

The city, once a thriving commercial center and important locale for Islam and science, was in a sense the center of the African-Islamic world.  

Here is a list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites that have recently come under threat. 

UGANDA: Tombs of Buganda Kings at Kasubi (see above)

The main structure of the Tombs of Buganda Kings was almost destroyed by fire in March 2010. Subsequently, this major spiritual center originaly built in the 13th century, was to be reconstructed. 

MALI: Timbuktu