A view of the west Mosul skyline featuring the leaning minaret of the Great Mosque of al-Nuri in Mosul before its destruction. Picture: AFP
On Thursday, Iraqi security forces (ISF) captured the area of the al-Nuri historic mosque in Mosul’s old city where ISIS proclaimed its “caliphate” three years ago, the Iraqi military said in a statement.
The liberation of the Grand al-Nuri Mosque is a symbolic victory for ISF. However, an intense fighting is still ongoing in the area of Old Mosul, the last ISIS sronghold inside the city.
ISIS blew up the historic mosque a week ago when ISF reached its vicinity in Old Mosul.