ISIS News 2017: Destruction of Great Mosque of al-Nuri in Mosul Could Signal End for Militant Group
Iraq and the United States blame the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) for the destruction of a historically important mosque in Mosul, which held a significance for the terrorist group. Iraq claims that their actions look to be an admission of defeat as ground forces move in against the embattled militant group.
As an increasingly desperate ISIS is getting cornered into a small area of Mosul's Old City, the venerated Great Mosque of al-Nuri was leveled by a series of explosions that destroyed one of Iraq's culturally significant monuments, as reported by CNN.
Lieutenant General Abdul Ghani al-Assadi, who is commanding the Iraqi counter-terrorism effort, made a statement on Wednesday, June 21, about his dismay at the way ISIS continued to destroy irreplaceable structures during the ongoing war.
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"ISIS had prepared to blow it up, they were only waiting to see how far our forces can reach," al-Assadi said. "We are no more going to drive them out of the Old City, we are going to kill all of them in the coming day," he added.
Iraqi leadership sees this move by the terrorist group as a white flag ahead of their impending destruction, according to Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. "Daesh's bombing of the al-Hadba minaret and the al-Nuri mosque is a formal declaration of their defeat," he said, referring to ISIS using its Arabic acronym, as quoted by The Guardian.
For its part, ISIS placed the blame of the mosque's destruction on U.S. bombing runs. According to the militant group's own news agency, it said that U.S. planes are responsible for the destruction of the iconic mosque with its leaning minaret tower.
U.S. officials categorically denied all such claims by ISIS.
It was in this historical landmark that ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi first declared the start of their holy war on July 4, 2014. For years afterward, the flag of the militant group has flown on top of the historic minaret before its destruction on Wednesday.
