SYMBOLISM

Iraq: ISIS Blew Up Mosque Where Baghdadi Declared Caliphate

As Iraqi troops make progress in forcing the militants from Mosul.

The Iraqi military says ISIS fighters blew up a landmark mosque in Mosul, where the terror group’s founder, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, declared a caliphate in the region three years ago. The detonation, which occurred Wednesday, came as Iraqi troops are making progress in forcing ISIS militants out of Mosul. ISIS’ official media agency accused the U.S. of destroying the mosque, but a spokesman for the coalition fighting ISIS in the region denied that claim. “The Daesh [ISIS] terror gangs committed another historical crime by blowing up the al-Nuri mosque and its historical al-Hadba minaret,” the Iraqi military said in a statement.