Giant bones, strange creatures: Meet Iraq's 'Youtube Indiana Jones'

Indiana Jones, David Attenborough and Lara Croft rolled into one, the amateur adventurer Mohammed Darwish says that's just some of the few things says he has encountered on his YouTube show, in videos that are garnering hundreds of thousands of views.

In the videos, Darwish and his crew film themselves 'raiding' archaeological sites in southern Iraq, to document what they say is the neglect and destruction of their country's antiquities, especially in their home province of Maysan.

In one video, Darwish appears carrying a large human thigh bone that a flash flood had caused to surface in the desert. After explaining the find, he buries the bones. In another video, he finds a clay tablet he claims dates back to the Sumerian period, which causes him to appeal to the Iraqi government to do more to protect the sites.

"All countries are proud of their civilizations except Iraq, where only Darwish is protecting them," he says in the video with some self-congratulation.

He is also interested in endangered animals and birds, which he attempts to identify and sometimes intervenes to rescue.

Darwish holds a diploma in mechanics and a BA in English. "I love the desert and after moving to the city, I missed it, so I started these adventures to relive the memories of innocent childhood," he told The New Arab via Facebook messenger.  

With support from friends, he started uploading videos of his discoveries online, he added.

"My biggest concern is the government, which often blocks me and does not give me permits to enter such sites."

The areas in southern Iraq he goes to are also dangerous and rough. It is not uncommon to encounter unexploded mines or armed tribesmen there, not to mention the unpaved roads

Dodging mines and militias