Daesh (ISIS) has blown up Mosul’s Grand al-Nuri Mosque, where the terrorist group’s leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi announced the formation of a so-called caliphate after capturing the northern city in 2014.
"Our forces were advancing toward their targets deep in the Old City and when they got to within 50 meters of the Nuri mosque, Daesh committed another historical crime by blowing up the Nuri mosque and the HadbaMinaret,” said Nineveh Liberation Operation Commander Lieutenant General Abdul Amir Yarallah in a statement released on Wednesday night.
The blasts occurred as Iraq's elite Counter Terrorism Service units had reached within 50 meters of the terrorists.
The terrorists claim that the mosque was destroyed by a US airstrike, but the US-led coalition rejected the claim.
After the army announced that Daesh had destroyed the mosque, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said, "It's an official declaration of defeat."
