Battle for Mosul: IS ‘blows up’ al-Nuri mosque

Mosque's minaret (pictured left) in Mosul on 24 May 2017Image copyright
AFP

So-called Islamic State (IS) has blown up the Great Mosque of al-Nuri in Mosul, Iraqi forces say.

The historic landmark was where IS leader Abubakr al-Baghdadi proclaimed a “caliphate” in 2014.

However, IS claims that US aircraft destroyed the mosque, in a statement issued by its news outlet Amaq.

Earlier on Wednesday, the commander of Iraqi forces told the BBC they were 15m from the mosque, as they pushed ahead with their offensive to retake Mosul.

The UN says IS may be holding more than 100,000 people there as human shields.

Thousands of Iraqi security forces, Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, Sunni Arab tribesmen and Shia militiamen, assisted by US-led coalition warplanes and military advisers, are involved in the offensive against IS, which was launched on 17 October 2016.

The government announced the full “liberation” of eastern Mosul in January 2017. But the west of the city has presented a more difficult challenge, with its narrow, winding streets.

Parts of the mosque, including its distinctive leaning minaret, had stood for hundreds of years.

A month after IS forces overran Mosul in June 2014, Baghdadi gave a Friday sermon from the pulpit inside the mosque – his first public appearance in many years.


Battle for Mosul: IS ‘blows up’ al-Nuri mosque