Iraqi forces capture landmark mosque blown up by ISIL

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Iraqi forces captured on Thursday the wrecked historic mosque of Mosul in which ISIL proclaimed its self-styled "caliphate" three years ago, according to an Iraqi military statement.

Taking the Grand al-Nuri Mosque hands a symbolic victory to the Iraqi forces which have been battling for more than eight month to capture Mosul, the northern city that served as ISIL's de facto capital in Iraq.

"Counter-Terrorism Service forces control the Nuri mosque and Al-Hadba (minaret)," the Joint Operations Command said in a statement.

Mosul's destroyed Grand al-Nuri Mosque on June 22, 2017. /VCG Photo

However Staff Lieutenant General Abdulwahab al-Saadi told AFP that while Iraqi forces were close to taking the mosque, they were still some 20 meters away.

The insurgents blew up the medieval mosque and its landmark leaning minaret last week, as US-backed Iraqi forces started a push in its direction. Their black flag had been floating on al-Hadba, the ''hunchback'' minaret, since June 2014.

The iconic mosque is where ISIL chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi made his only known public appearance in 2014, soon after the group seized Iraq's second city, calling on Muslims to obey him.

Three years later, Baghdadi's fate and whereabouts remain unknown, and ISIL has lost much of the territory it overran in 2014.

(Source: AFP, Reuters)

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