Islamic State blows up landmark Great Mosque of al-Nuri and famous leaning minaret in Mosul

By Barney Henderson
21 JUNE 2017 • 8:28PM

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists have blown up the landmark Great Mosque of al-Nuri and its famous leaning minaret in Mosul, the Iraqi army has said.

The Iraqi army had launched a push, backed by British and American forces, to regain the medieval mosque and surrounding areas from Isil earlier on Wednesday.

"Our forces were advancing toward their targets deep in the Old City and when they got to within 50 yards of the Nuri mosque, Daesh (Isil) committed another historical crime by blowing up the Nuri mosque and the Hadba" mosque, Staff Lieutenant General Abdulamir Yarallah, the overall commander of the Mosul offensive, said in a statement.

Isil issued a statement via its Amaq propaganda agency blaming a US strike for the destruction of the mosque.

The twelfth-century mosque, along with its minaret, was one of Iraq's most famous buildings. It was where Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the Isil leader, declared the creation of the so-called caliphate in a speech in summer 2014.

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Battle for Mosul: IS 'blows up' al-Nuri mosque

21 June 2017 Middle East

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.

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