Al-Nuri Mosque in Mosul has been blown up,this was the ideological heart of ISIS and the birthplace of its self-declared caliphate.
The Iraqi prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, has said the destruction of the Great Mosque of al-Nuri in Mosul is an admission by the militants that they are losing the fight for the country’s second-largest city.
One of Islam’s most venerated sites, the mosque has been destroyed by explosions as Iraqi forces battled Islamic State fighters who had holed up nearby.
Iraq’s military blamed Isis for levelling the mosque, almost three years after its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, ascended a pulpit inside to proclaim himself leader of a new Islamic caliphate.
ISIS, through its news agency, said US warplanes were responsible for the loss late Wednesday of the Great Mosque of al-Nuri and its leaning minaret.
US officials told CNN the ISIS claim was “1,000% false.”
It was during Friday prayers here on July 4, 2014, that ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared the founding of a new caliphate and called on fellow Sunnis to carry out a holy war.
This was the first and last time the leader of the terrorist group spoke publicly to his followers.
The mosque’s imam had been executed about a month earlier for refusing to join ISIS, according to the United Nations.