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 IS’ de facto capital in Iraq.
“Their fictitous state has fallen,” an Iraqi military spokesman, Brigadier General Yahya Rasool, told state TV.
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 to end in the coming days as IS has been bottled up in a handful of neighbourhoods of the Old City.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi “issued instructions to bring the battle to its conclusion”, his office said on Wednesday.