The Iraqi government announced Wednesday that the Islamic State destroyed the Great Mosque of al-Nuri in western Mosul, the site where the terrorist group three years ago declared its “caliphate.”
The announcement came as Iraq’s forces encircled the jihadist group’s territory in the Old City, the last district under their control in Mosul. Afterward, U.S. Central Command confirmed the Iraqi government report.
“As our Iraqi Security Force partners closed in on the al-Nuri mosque, ISIS destroyed one of Mosul and Iraq’s great treasures,” said Maj. Gen. Joseph Martin, the American commander for the operation, said in the statement.
“This is a crime against the people of Mosul and all of Iraq, and is an example of why this brutal organization must be annihilated,” Martin said. “The responsibility of this devastation is laid firmly at the doorstep of ISIS, and we continue to support our Iraqi partners as they bring these terrorists to justice. However, the battle for the liberation of Mosul is not yet complete, and we remain focused on supporting the ISF with that objective in mind.”
The Islamic State denies it is responsible for the destruction of the mosque. The New York Times reports the terrorist group used its news agency to claim that the mosque had actually been taken down by an American airstrike.
The mosque stood for over eight centuries, as Iraqi forces sought to expel the terrorist group from the area of Mosul where the site existed. Back on July 4, 2014, the historic mosque served as the venue for ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi when he declared a caliphate spanning parts of Syria and Iraq.
