Italy unveiled a 60-strong task force of art detectives and restorers on Tuesday, ready to protect the world's crisis-hit heritage sites for UNESCO in a cultural version of the UN's famous Blue Helmets, AFP reports.
The task force, dubbed "cultural peacekeepers", will be dispatched - when logistically possible - to assess the damage to globally-prized monuments or works in the wake of conflicts, earthquakes, floods or other disasters. The main aim is to stop the looting and selling of heritage by militants to fund "terrorist activities", UNESCO said.