Iraq declares end to IS ‘caliphate’

Troops seize ruins of key mosque from militants in Mosul

Special for USA TODAY IRBIL, IRAQ Iraq’s U.S.-backed military seized the ruins of the famed al-Nuri mosque in Mosul on Thursday and declared an end to the Islamic State’s selfdeclared caliphate three years after the militant group stormed into the country.

“The fictitious state has fallen,” Brig. Gen. Yahya Rassol, a military spokesman, told Iraqi state TV.

Prime Minister Haider alAbadi said: “We are seeing the end of the fake Daesh state … we will not relent, our brave forces will bring victory,” according to a statement posted to Twitter on Thursday. He used the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State.

Lt. Gen. Abd al-Amir Yarallah said Iraqi forces control the ruins of the mosque and the minaret and are continuing their push to clear militants out of Mosul’s Old City.

Islamic State fighters destroyed much of the mosque last week to keep the icon from falling into the control of Iraqi forces as they neared recapture of the militants’ last major stronghold in Iraq.

Col. Ryan Dillon, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, called the capture of the mosque a “significant” victory and said he expected an announcement from Iraq’s government within days about the complete liberation of the city.

The offensive to clear Iraq’s second-largest city began in October and posed a major test for the country’s military, which has been backed by U.S. advisers and air support from a U.S.led coalition of nations.

The Islamic State seized Mosul in June 2014, when the radical group swept into Iraq and routed Iraq’s military.