Iraq troops close in on mosque where IS 'caliphate' was announced in battle for Mosul
Video report by ITV News Senior International Correspondent John Irvine
Iraqi troops are close to retaking a famed mosque in central Mosul where so-called Islamic State declared their caliphate.
The al-Nuri mosque, famed for its leaning minaret tower, was where IS head Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi first announced himself as the self-styled leader of all Muslims in 2014.
Now the terror group are close to losing this highly significant landmark as Iraqi troops push steadily forward in a bloody battle to re-take the city.
ITV News are alongside government forces in Mosul and took the first footage of the mosque's tower from the army's front lines, now visible just a few hundred metres ahead of them.
Today the IS flag still flew from the mosque - but troops are just half a mile away and gathering ground.
They have also liberated the city's central museum, strewn with rubble where after IS fighters destroyed precious relics and historical relics.
Empty plinths were all that remained of statues while documents were also left strewn over the heavily-ruined building.
Now the museum is on the front line of more history being made as IS fiercely resist efforts to take their prized stronghold.
Iraq's army lost at least 500 people in the bloody battle to capture east Mosul. They are trying to limit the casualties as they move into the western side of the city over the river.
More airstrikes and artillery are being used in an effort to minimise close combat fighting, and IS are responding in kind.
A propaganda video released by the terror group served to emphasise that they are not short on firepower or fighters willing to risk their lives.
Waves of airstrikes and intense fighting have left much of the city uninhabitable and residents are fleeing more districts as the fighting approaches them.
As they abandoned their homes today they can only be wondering how much of the city will be left still standing when they can finally return.