US officials on Wednesday denied a ISIS claim that US forces bombed Iraq’s iconic Great Mosque of al-Nuri in Mosul. The mosque is where ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in 2014 announced an Islamic “caliphate.”
The officials told CNN the claim that it destroyed the mosque was “1,000% false.”
US and coalition officials have observed the mosque for several days and have seen fighters and explosives at the site, several US officials have told CNN in recent days.
Iraqi forces for months have been trying to take back the city from ISIS.