Daesh Blows up Mosul’s Iconic al-Nuri Mosque

Daesh has blown up Mosul’s Grand al-Nuri Mosque, where the terrorist group’s leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi announced the formation of a so-called caliphate after capturing the northern city in 2014, Press TV reported.

“Our forces were advancing toward their targets deep in the Old City and when they got to within 50 meters (yards) of the Nuri mosque, Daesh committed another historical crime by blowing up the Nuri mosque and the Hadba” mosque, said Nineveh Liberation Operation Commander Lieutenant General Abdul Amir Yarallah in a statement released on Wednesday night.

 The blasts occurred as Iraq’s elite Counter Terrorism Service units had reached within 50 meters of the terrorists.

Earlier in the day, Iraqi military officials announced troops has had encircled the mosque — Daesh’s stronghold in the Old City of Mosul.

Iraqi army soldiers and volunteer fighters from the Popular Mobilization Units, commonly known by their Arabic name, Hashd al-Sha’abi, have made sweeping gains against Daesh since launching the Mosul operation on October 17, 2016.

The Iraqi forces took control of eastern Mosul in January after 100 days of fighting, and launched the battle in the west on February 19.

Foundation of the so-called caliphate by the Daesh in June 2014 was heavily criticized and ridiculed by Islamic scholars inside and outside the Middle East.

H.M