ISLAMIST insurgents have dealt a “devastating blow” to the world’s heritage  by torching buildings in Timbuktu containing thousands of priceless documents,  some of them 900 years old.

Claims that as many as 20,000 historic manuscripts have been destroyed  emerged as French-led troops advanced into the ancient desert trading post today  after seizing the airport.

News of the fires has been greeted with dismay. The documents were described  by The Guardian as “a unique record of sub-Saharan Africa’s  medieval history” and the oldest of them dated back to 1204.

“The manuscripts survived for centuries in Timbuktu on the edge of the Sahara  hidden in wooden trunks, boxes beneath the sand and caves,” the paper said. “The  majority are written in Arabic, with some in African languages, and one in  Hebrew, and cover a diverse range of topics including astronomy, poetry, music,  medicine and women’s rights.”

Halle Ousmani Ciffe, the city’s mayor, said: “This is terrible news. The  manuscripts were a part not only of Mali’s heritage but the world’s heritage. By  destroying them they threaten the world.”

Timbuktu was renowned as a holy city of Sufi saints and learning and it is  feared many saints’ shrines, dotted around the city, have been vandalised. The  Washington Post claims that “the militants have  systematically destroyed UNESCO World Heritage sites” since taking the city last  April, and imposed strict Sharia law.

French forces are being “careful” to avoid combat inside the city, reports Reuters, so as not to cause any further unnecessary  damage.

Timbuktu, a byword for any far-flung destination, remained undiscovered by  Europeans until the 1830s, reports the BBC. Even today there is no tarmac road to the city.

“For centuries, [Europeans] tried to reach the place because it was a  mythological place of trade and Islamic scholars,” explained Marie Rodet,  lecturer at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London.

French and Malian troops have encountered little resistance so far in their  efforts to retake Timbuktu after seizing the eastern city of Gao on  Saturday.

But their relatively rapid advance has been been possible because the  Islamists tend to “melt away” into desert hideouts, taking their vehicles and  weapons with them, says Thomas Fessy of the BBC. “Hunting them down in this vast region they [the  insurgents] know better than any army will be much harder.”

The Independent agrees. “French sources are delighted by the  relative smoothness of their operation to help the Malian government to defeat  the rebels. They have warned, however, that the conflict may soon enter a  hit-and-run guerrilla phase.” ·