Isil blows up the Great Mosque of Mosul as Iraqi troops close in
ISLAMIC State jihadis last night blew up the landmark Great Mosque of alnuri and its famous leaning minaret in Mosul.
The Iraqi army had launched a push, backed by British and American forces, to regain the medieval mosque and surrounding areas from Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) fighters earlier in the day.
The 12th-century mosque, along with its minaret, was one of Iraq’s most famous buildings.
And it was where Abu Bakr al-baghdadi, the Isil leader, declared the creation of the so-called caliphate in a speech in the summer of 2014 after his fighters swept through large parts of Syria and Iraq.
Haider al-abadi, Iraq’s prime minister, said the destruction of the site was “an official declaration of defeat” by Isil in the battle for Mosul.
“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,” said Gen Abdulamir Yarallah, the overall commander of the Mosul offensive.
Isil issued a statement blaming a US air strike for the destruction of the mosque, but a coalition spokesman said there were no strikes in the area at the time.
Maj Gen Joseph Martin, who leads the Us-backed coalition’s combined joint forces land component, said the historic building’s destruction was “a crime against the people of Mosul and all of Iraq and is an example of why this brutal organisation must be annihilated”.
The black flag of Isil had been flying over the minaret since June 2014.
The fight to retake Mosul, which has been a key Isil stronghold, was launched more than eight months ago and has displaced more than 850,000 people.
Yesterday morning, US and Britishbacked Iraqi forces began a push towards the mosque, having encircled jihadi fighters in the Old City.
An estimated 100,000 civilians are holed up in the Old City with the last remaining Isil troops, the UN has stated, warning they could be used as human shields.
As Iraq’s Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) troops closed in yesterday, Isil blew up the mosque.
American and other coalition troops are part of an advisory team supporting the Iraqi army based in western Mosul, more than a mile from the front line.
Iraqi officials had privately ex- pressed the hope that the mosque could be captured in time for Eid alfitr, the festival marking the end of Ramadan, the Muslim fasting month. The first day of Eid falls this year on June 25 or 26 in Iraq.
The mosque was built by the Turkic ruler of Mosul, Nur al-din Mahmoud Zangi, who helped unify Arab forces against the European Crusaders.
He ordered its construction in 1172, two years before his death. The mosque and minaret are pictured on Iraq’s 10,000 dinar bank note. Originally standing at 150 feet, the minaret was leaning noticeably by the 14th century and given the nickname “al-hadba” (the humpback). It was also sometimes referred to as Iraq’s Tower of Pisa.
Isil attempted to destroy the minaret in July 2014, saying the structure contradicted their interpretation of Islam. However, Mosul residents protected it by forming a human chain.
In May 2015, Isil overran the oasis city of Palmyra in Syria and destroyed countless priceless artifacts. In January this year, the militants blew up the famous Tetrapylon monument and damaged a Roman theatre in Palmyra.