Alwaght-Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has declared an end to ISIS’s "state of falsehood" following the recapture of the wrecked historical Grand al-Nuri Mosque at the heart of the city of Mosul.
“The return of al-Nuri Mosque and al-Hadba minaret to the fold of the nation marks the end of the Daesh state of falsehood,” Abadi said in a statement, referring to the ISIS Takfiri terrorist group by its Arabic acronym.
Iraqi forces, he said, would continue to hunt ISIS elements "to kill them and detain them, down to the last one.”
The terrorists blew up the medieval mosque and its famed leaning minaret a week ago as Iraqi forces and local allies advanced towards it. Their infamous black flag had been flying from al-Hadba (The Hunchback) minaret since June 2014 when they captured the key Iraqi city.
The Iraqi army recaptured the venue of the iconic mosque on Thursday, with the country’s state TV implying the liberation of the city, which has been under the control of the terrorist group since 2014.
“Their fictitious state has fallen,” an Iraqi military spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Rasool told state TV.
Earlier, the Iraqi military announced the news as it continues to gain more advances in Mosul’s Old City.
Shortly after the announcement, the Iraqi state television reported the fall of the “mythical state,” in reference to ISIS’s so-called caliphate.
The fall of Mosul would in effect mark the end of the Iraqi half of the ISIS co-called caliphate while the other half in the Syrian city of Raqqa is expected to fall as Syrian forces and local allies make rapid advances.
The operations to liberate Mosul has been carried out by the Iraqi army and Iraqi pro-government fighters from Popular Mobilization Forces.
