Iraqi forces 'take control of Mosul’s landmark al-Nuri Mosque compound'

An aerial view of the destroyed al-Nuri Mosque and the surrounding compound.

  • Video report by ITV News Correspondent John Ray

Iraqi forces have taken the landmark al-Nuri mosque compound that was destroyed by so-called Islamic State, a military commander said.

Lt Gen Abdul Wahab al-Saadi said his forces entered the compound and took control of the surrounding streets on Thursday, after an early push into the area.

The northern city has served as the IS group's de facto capital in Iraq.

The recapture of the mosque is seen as hugely symbolic and a military spokesman, in reference to IS, told state TV: "Their fictitious state has fallen."

Last week, IS fighters blew up the 850-year-old mosque, famed for itsleaning minaret.

Their black flag had been flying from al-Hadba (The Hunchback) minaret, since June 2014.

In July 2014, IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi stood at the mosque's pulpit and declared a self-styled “caliphate” on IS-held territories in Syria and Iraq.

He is reported to have been killed alongside other senior militants during a Russian airstrike in Syria in May.

IS figurehead Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi spoke in the mosque in July 2014. Credit: AP

The Iraqi military has warned the site will need to be cleared by bomb disposal teams as IS fighters may have rigged it with explosives.

An Iraqi soldier pictured near the frontline close to the al-Nuri mosque Credit: AP

Iraqi forces have been battling for more than eight months to recapture Mosul from IS.

They are continuing their advance through the last IS-held neighbourhood, the so-called Old City, to the west of the Tigris River.