Mosul’s renowned minaret restored from ravages of Islamic State

Islamic State destroyed Mosul's Grand al-Nuri Mosque in 2017, but it has been rebuilt with international support.

Mosul’s Grand al-Nuri Mosque, known for its eight-century-old leaning minaret, destroyed by Islamic State militants in 2017, has been renovated in a boost for Iraq's second city as it rebuilds after long years of war.

From the pulpit of this medieval mosque on July 4, 2014, Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared a self-styled ‘caliphate’ spanning parts of Syria and Iraq.

Three years later, the ultra hardline group demolished the mosque in the final weeks of a U.S.-backed Iraqi campaign that ousted the jihadists from Mosul, their de facto capital in Iraq.

Protracted and fierce urban warfare largely reduced the historic landmarks of Iraq's second city to rubble.

Mahmoud Thannon, 70, a tailor who lives near the mosque and runs a tailor shop overlooking the mosque’s minaret, said his two sons were killed before the al-Hadba minaret was demolished.

"When I saw it collapse, I felt even sadder than when I lost my sons," he said. "Watching the Hadba minaret rise again is a joyous day. I feel our pride soaring high as well.”

“My dear martyred sons would be proud to see the minaret rebuilt if they were alive.” said Thannon, speaking inside his shop with images of his two sons hanging behind him.