ISIS blow up mosque where Baghdadi proclaimed 'caliphate'

The leaning minaret of Mosul's Grand al-Nuri Mosque survived through the Mongol and Ottoman conquests, neglect under Saddam Hussein and air raids during the U.S. invasion. ISIS blew it up as soldiers came within steps of the complex last week The Iraqi Prime Minister said that the mosque's destruction was an admission by ISIS that they had lost control of Mosul The Grand al-Nuri mosque was built between 1172 and 1173 and is considered one of Iraq's most valuable historical treasures An Iraqi truck passes by destroyed houses in the old city of Mosul, near the mosque. Major General Joseph Martin, who the American commander for the operation to retake Mosul, said: 'As our Iraqi Security Force partners closed in on the Al Nuri mosque, ISIS destroyed one of Mosul and Iraq's great treasures. American commander Major General Joseph Martin said the destruction was 'a crime against the people of Mosul and all of Iraq' The mosque is the same one where ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi pronounced the new Islamic caliphate in 2014 The risk of mines or unexploded ordnance have prevented the Iraqi military from thoroughly examining the interior of the building ISIS blamed the mosque's destruction on US air strikes, but multiple sources confirmed that the terror group was responsible Within months, ISIS was carrying out and inspiring militant attacks throughout Europe and the Middle East. The al-Nuri mosque had survived through the conquests of the Mongols and Ottomans, as well as bombings during the Iran-Iraq war and the US invasion in 2003 The eight-month-old battle for Mosul has displaced nearly a million residents from Iraq's second city The combination of coalition airstrikes and ISIS explosives have left the streets of Mosul in ruins Baghdadi's appearance at the Nuri mosque was the first time he revealed himself to the world, and the footage broadcast then is to this day the only video recording of him as 'caliph'.