The Islamic State group destroyed the al-Nuri mosque in Mosul and the famous leaning minaret when fighters detonated explosives inside the structures, Iraq’s Ministry of Defence has said.
The mosque – also known as Mosul’s Great Mosque – is where IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared a so-called Islamic caliphate in 2014 shortly after the city was overrun by the militants and was seen as a key symbolic prize in the fight for Iraq’s second largest city.
The gate of the al-Nuri mosque (AP)
Iraqi forces launched a push into Mosul’s Old City earlier this week where the last IS fighters are holed up with an estimated 100,000 civilians, according to the United Nations.
The fight to retake Mosul was launched more than eight months ago and has displaced more than 850,000 people.
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