ISIS destroys historic mosque and minaret in Mosul

ISIS detonated explosives inside the historic al-Nuri mosque, also known as the Great Mosque, in Mosul late Wednesday night, destroying it and its iconic leaning minaret known as al-Hadba, according to Iraq’s Ministry of Defense. ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared a global Islamic caliphate at the mosque in 2014, shortly after militants overran Iraq’s second largest city. ISIS posted a statement online claiming a U.S. airstrike destroyed the mosque and minaret. ISIS militants initially tried to destroy the minaret, which stood for more than 840 years, in July 2014, saying the structure contradicted with their fundamentalist Islamic beliefs. But Mosul residents formed a human chain to protect it. The mosque was located on the southern edge of the Old City, the last ISIS stronghold in Mosul. Iraqi forces pushed into the area earlier this week but haven’t made much progress. The United Nations says ISIS militants are holed up there with an estimated 100,000 civilians.

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