Anger in Mosul as Islamic State destroys historic mosque
The leaning al-Hadba minaret that towered over Mosul for 850 years lay in ruins on Thursday, demolished by retreating Islamic State militants, but Iraq's prime minister said the act marked their final defeat in the city.
"In the early morning, I climbed up to the roof of my house and was stunned to see the Hadba minaret had gone," Nashwan, a day-laborer who lives near the mosque, said by phone. "I felt I had lost a son of mine."
His words echoed the shock and anger of many over the destruction of the Grand al-Nuri Mosque along with its famous minaret, known affectionately as "the hunchback" by Iraqis.
The demolition came on Wednesday night as Iraqi forces closed in on the mosque, which carried enormous symbolic importance for Islamic State (IS). It was there that its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared a "caliphate" as militants seized swathes of Syria and Iraq. He proclaimed himself the caliph, ruler of all Muslims, from the mosque's pulpit.
Some analysts said the destruction of the mosque could in fact speed the advance of government forces, which had been slowed by fear of damaging it.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi went further. "Blowing up the al-Hadba minaret and the al-Nuri mosque amounts to an official acknowledgement of defeat," he said on his website.
"It's a matter of a few days and we will announce the total liberation of Mosul," he later told reporters in Baghdad, pledging to rebuild the mosque and other historical sites destroyed by the insurgents.
The jihadists appear to have chosen to blow up the mosque rather than see their flag torn down by U.S.-backed Iraqi forces battling through the maze of narrow alleys and streets of the Old City, the last district of Mosul still under the control of Islamic State.
In the dawn light, all that remained was the base projecting from shattered masonry. A video on social media showed the minaret collapsing vertically, throwing up a pall of sand and dust.
Defense analysts said the decision to destroy the mosque could indicate the militants were on the verge of collapse.
Islamic State fighters have destroyed many Muslim religious sites and Christian churches and shrines, as well as ancient Assyrian and Roman-era sites in Iraq and in Syria.
"Many different enemies controlled Mosul over the past 900 years but none of them dared to destroy the Hadba," said Ziad, an art student in Mosul.
"By bombing the minaret, they proved they are the worst of all barbarian groups in history."
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-iraq-mosul-idUSKBN19D18O
