(29 Jun 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Mosul, Iraq - 29 June 2024
1. Al-Nouri Mosque
2. Mosque tomb under construction
3. Reconstruction materials lined up in mosque yard
4. Mosque minaret
5. Al-Hadbaa minaret under construction
6. Street around al-Nouri mosque
7. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Bilal Akram, resident living near al-Nouri mosque:
“It was a few days ago, it was only three or four days (ago) when they discovered an explosive device. It was discovered by poor workers working in the site, and while they working they shouted 'foreman, foreman there is a mine.' There were wires under and it was a complete set.”
8. Traffic by the mosque
9. Mosque
10. Traffic
11. Various of minaret under construction
12. People passing by
13. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Bilal Akram, resident living near al-Nouri mosque:
“Now the work is suspended they stopped working because until now the explosive devices are inside al-Nouri Mosque, and the engineering team are coming from Baghdad as this is a major one. If this exploded, it will eliminate the whole area. I live in this area. So, my house and my parents’ house will be gone.”
14. Al-Nouri mosque tomb
15. Al-Hadbaa minaret
16. Activity around al-Nouri mosque
STORYLINE:
The United Nations cultural agency has discovered five bombs hidden within the walls the historic al-Nouri Mosque in the city of Mosul in northern Iraq, a remnant of the Islamic State militant group’s rule over the area, UNESCO said in a statement Saturday.
The mosque, famous for its 12th-century leaning minaret, was destroyed by IS in 2017 and has been a focal point of UNESCO’s restoration efforts since 2020.
UNESCO said that five large-scale explosive devices, designed for significant destruction, were found inside the southern wall of the Prayer Hall on Tuesday.
They were "concealed within a specially rebuilt section of the wall,” the statement said, adding Iraqi authorities were notified and the area secured.
It said one bomb had been defused and removed, while the remaining four are "interconnected and will be safely disposed of in the coming days.”
Iraqi authorities have requested UNESCO to halt all reconstruction operations at al-Nouri mosque and evacuate the entire complex until the devices are disarmed.
IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared an Islamic caliphate from the mosque a decade ago on June 29, 2014, leading to its destruction when extremists blew it up during the battle to liberate Mosul in 2017.
The discovery of these bombs underscores ongoing challenges in clearing Mosul of explosives and revitalizing its devastated urban areas.
International efforts, supported by the United Nations, focus on mine clearance and aiding in the city’s recovery.
Despite progress, much of Mosul’s old city remains in ruins, marked by minefield warning signs.
UNESCO aims to complete the full reconstruction of al-Nouri Mosque by December 2024.
A decade after IS declared its caliphate in large parts of Iraq and Syria, the extremists no longer control any land, have lost many prominent leaders and are mostly out of the world news headlines.
AP video shot by Farid Abdulwahed
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