Iraqi forces retake landmark mosque site in Mosul

Iraqi forces on Thursday captured the site of the al-Nuri mosque in Mosul, where Islamic State (ISIS) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared a caliphate in 2014. ISIS blew up the historic mosque last week, Iraqi and coalition officials said, though the terror group claims a U.S. airstrike destroyed it. Iraqi troops are pushing into Mosul’s Old City, home of the mosque site and a densely populated area where the city’s last remaining ISIS militants are holed up. Damaged and destroyed houses dot the route into the congested district, and the stench of rotting bodies rises from under the rubble.

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