ancient sites. “We fear that the hands of the extremists will extend to our heritage, like in Iraq,” antiquities chief Ahmed Hassan told AFP.
Libya has five sites on Unesco´s World Heritage List, and none can be considered safe.
In the west, IS has a presence some 320 kilometres from the fabled ancient city of Leptis Magna, which Unesco says was “one of the most beautiful cities of the Roman Empire”.
In the east, 80 kilometres from the IS stronghold of Derna, is the ancient Greek city of Cyrene, once dubbed the Athens of Africa.
Also vulnerable are the Phoenician trading port of Sabratha and Tadrart Acacus, with its thousands of cave paintings dating back 12,000 years, officials say.
“We are working with foreign partners and other stakeholders to preserve this archaeological heritage,” Hassan said.
Mohammed al-Shelmani, head of the archaeological department in Benghazi, said the growing power of IS in Libya has meant officials are now actively working to avert “an Iraqi-type scenario”.
He is determined to help save Libya´s cultural heritage, even if this means sending artefacts abroad for safekeeping.
“We have to remove all of our artefacts — document and store them in a safe location as well as asking Unesco for help in preserving our history,” Shelmani said.
According to Libyan archaeology expert Fadl al-Hassi, at least 15 sites have been looted or destroyed since 2011.
Tripoli´s iconic colonial-era statue of a nude woman stroking a gazelle disappeared overnight last November, in an act the culture ministry said demonstrated “a total absence of culture on the part of the assailants”.
Antiquities department spokesman Fathallah Kammesh detailed dozen of cases of missing antiquities from Qadhafi´s home town Sirte, 450 kilometres west of Tripoli, and from others to the east.
In 2011, a collection of nearly 8,000 gold, silver and bronze coins, dating back to Alexander the Great, disappeared from a Benghazi bank.
In Tobruk, just west of Libya´s border with Egypt, a former Islamic palace from the Fatimid period was turned into a barn for animals.
Most archaeological sites in Libya are open to the public with no restrictions. Only museums were closed for fear of looting, such as central Tripoli´s Al-Saraya Al-Hamra (Red Castle).
Last year Unesco Director General Irina Bokova called for Libya´s unique cultural heritage to be protected.
“Libyan heritage is the expression of a shared memory of the country, and its respect represents a corner stone for long lasting national reconciliation,” she said in a statement.
“I therefore urge all parties, as well as the Libyan population, to commit to and act for its safeguarding.”
For now, unarmed civilians mobilised by the antiquities department are the only line of defence standing between looters and IS Jihadists and thousands of years of accumulated history.