Great Mosque of al-Nuri, Mosul

The Great Mosque of al-Nuri (Arabic: جامع النوري, romanized: Jāmiʿ an-Nūrī), also known as the Nouri Mosque, is a Sunni mosque in Mosul, in the Nineveh Governorate of Iraq, famous for its leaning minaret, which gave the city its nickname "the hunchback" (Arabic: الحدباء, romanized: al-Ḥadbāˈ). Tradition holds that the mosque was built in the late 12th century, although it underwent many renovations over the years. The mosque withstood various hostile invading forces over its 850-year history until it was destroyed, along with its distinctive minaret, in the 2017 Battle of Mosul.

Iraqi troops attributed the destruction of the mosque to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in a vandalistic move to destroy it rather than let it go from their hold. The mosque had held a symbolic importance to ISIL and its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, as it was used in 2014 by the militants to self-declare their "caliphate". ISIL's black flag had been flying on the 45-metre-high (148 ft) minaret after their militants surged across Iraq and Syria seizing territory, and they had promised to never let their flag be lowered from it.

Contrary to official accounts and local eyewitnesses, IS alleged that U...