The government of Iraq has declared that the Islamic State has “fallen” after they recaptured the mosque where the so-called caliphate was declared three years ago.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said the capture of the Grand al-Nuri Mosque marks “the end of the Daesh state.” Brigadier General Yahya Rasool, told state television that “their fictitious state has fallen,” according to Reuters.
However, ISIS still controls the group still controls territory west and south of Mosul, which includes hundreds of thousands of people. Nonetheless, the fall of Mosul essentially spells the end of the Iraqi half of the caliphate.
Iraq declares ‘fall’ of ISIS as military retakes landmark al-Nuri mosque in #Mosul https://t.co/gRWyuJt80w pic.twitter.com/1xX7ihxN5c
— NieuwsBlog (@nieuwsblog) June 29, 2017
Its stronghold on the Syrian side of things, Raqqa, is also close to falling. Islamic State territory has been reduced by 60 percent from its peak two years ago. Their finances have also taken a massive hit – now they’re only pulling in about $16M a month.
They still occupy an area bigger than Belgium, but either way there’s no question this is a pretty big hit for the Islamic State.
Source: Sydney Morning Herald.
Photo: Getty Images.
