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Iraq declares end of Islamic State caliphate

A bomb explodes behind the al-Nuri mosque complex, as seen through a hole in the wall of a house, as Iraqi Special Forces move toward Islamic State militant positions in Mosul on June 29, 2017.

A bomb explodes behind the al-Nuri mosque complex, as seen through a hole in the wall of a house, as Iraqi Special Forces move toward Islamic State militant positions in Mosul on June 29, 2017. Photo: AP

Iraqi government troops have captured the mosque in Mosul from where Islamic State proclaimed its self-styled caliphate three years ago.

Seizing the 850-year-old Grand al-Nuri Mosque hands a symbolic victory to the Iraqi forces who have been battling for more than eight months to recapture Mosul, the northern city that served as the IS de facto capital in Iraq.

“Their fictitious state has fallen,” an Iraqi military spokesman, Brigadier General Yahya Rasool, told state TV.

Lieutenant General Abdul Wahab al-Saadi said special forces entered the compound and took control of the surrounding streets on Thursday afternoon, following a dawn push into the area.

The insurgents blew up the medieval mosque and its famed leaning minaret a week ago as US-backed Iraqi forces started a push in its direction. Their black flag had been flying from al-Hadba (The Hunchback) minaret, since June 2014.

Iraqi authorities expect the battle for Mosul to end in the coming days as Islamic State has been bottled up in a handful of neighbourhoods of the Old City.

mosul is end caliphate

Iraqi special forces soldiers take a break near the frontline. Photo: AP

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi “issued instructions to bring the battle to its conclusion,” his office said on Wednesday.

The fall of Mosul would in effect mark the end of the Iraqi half of the IS caliphate, even though the hardline group would still control territory west and south of the city.

The IS capital in Syria, Raqqa, is also besieged by a US-backed Kurdish-led coalition.

The cost of the battle has been enormous, however. In addition to military casualties, thousands of civilians are estimated to have been killed.

About 900,000 people, nearly half the pre-war population of the northern city, have fled the battle, mostly taking refuge in camps or with relatives and friends, according to aid groups.

Those trapped in the city suffered hunger and deprivation as well as death or injury, and many buildings have been ruined.

Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) troops captured the al-Nuri Mosque’s ground in a “lightning operation” on Thursday, a commander of the US-trained elite units told state TV.

Civilians living nearby were evacuated in the past days through corridors, he added.

CTS units are now in control of the mosque area and the al-Hadba and Sirjkhana neighbourhoods and they are still advancing, a military statement said.

A US-led international coalition is providing air and ground support to the Iraqi forces fighting through the Old City’s maze of narrow alleyways.

Shortly after Islamic State’s rise to power in Mosul, IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi used the mosque to deliver a speech in which he proclaimed the establishment of the group’s caliphate.

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