A United Nations agency has discovered five bombs planted by ISIS militants in the wall of Mosul’s iconic Al-Nuri mosque during restoration work.
Kabul 24: The five “large-scale explosive devices, designed to trigger a massive destruction of the site,” were found in the southern wall of the prayer hall on Tuesday by the UNESCO team.
Destruction of the Mosque
The Al-Nuri mosque and its adjacent 12th-century leaning minaret were destroyed during the battle to retake Mosul from ISIS, which had occupied the city for three years. Iraq’s army accused ISIS of planting explosives at the site and blowing it up.
Restoration Efforts and Bomb Removal
UNESCO, the UN cultural agency, has been working to restore the mosque and other heritage sites in Mosul, much of which was reduced to rubble.
One of the five bombs has been removed, but the remaining four 1.5-kilogram devices “remain connected to each other” and are expected to be cleared in the coming days.
Iraqi authorities have secured the area and requested UNESCO to suspend all reconstruction activities until the devices are safely defused.
Significance of the Mosque
It was from the Al-Nuri mosque that Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, the former leader of ISIS, proclaimed the establishment of the group’s “caliphate” in July 2014.
The mosque derives its name from Nureddine al-Zinki, the unifier of Syria who also reigned over Mosul and ordered its construction in 1172.
