The site believed to be the burial location of Jonah, who is known in Judeo-Christian and Islamic traditions as being swallowed by a whale before becoming a prophet for God, was reportedly desecrated after Islamic extremists planted explosives around the tomb.

Civil defense officials told CNN that militants of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria group, known as ISIS, placed and then detonated bombs around the holy site in Mosul, Iraq, on Thursday.

A video of the explosion was posted to YouTube, which shows the towering Mosque of the Prophet Yunus moments before the bombs went off. Inside the Sunni mosque was the tomb.

ISIS, which is an al-Qaida splinter group that began its war against the Iraqi government in June, has seized control of several cities as it creates an Islamic caliphate in parts of Iraq and Syria.

The group vowed to destroy holy sites it considers un-Islamic and has been imposing Sharia law. During the past few weeks, ISIS has destroyed several Sunni shrines in Mosul.

The group also issued an ultimatum to Christians living in Mosul to either convert to Islam, pay a fine or die "by the sword," causing many families to flee the city.

Human Rights Watch reported that ISIS destroyed seven worshipping sites for Shiites last month in the Turkmen city of Tal Afar, roughly 31 miles west of Mosul.

Eight people were also killed and two wounded Thursday after Iraqi fighter jets dropped bombs on a store in the al-Dubat neighborhood, said Dr. Mohammed Fadel, the director of Mosul's main hospital.

The same day, Iraqi lawmakers elected Fuad Masum as Iraq's new president. He is a senior member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan leadership council and a veteran Kurdish politician. Masum has served in the Iraqi parliament since 2005 and has been the head of the Kurdish alliance bloc for the past four years, according to CNN.

According to the White House, Vice President Joe Biden called to congratulate Masum.

"They agreed on the importance of forming a new Iraqi government as quickly as possible and working to arrive at an agreed-upon road map for governance," White House officials said. "President Masum expressed the importance of restoring trust and confidence among all of Iraq's communities and continuing to rebuild Iraq's relations in the region."