ISIS Blows Up Iconic Mosque in 'Admission of Defeat'

 In what American commanders called a crime against the people of Iraq and the country's prime minister called an admission of defeat, officials say ISIS fighters blew up Mosul's most iconic mosque Wednesday night as government troops closed in. 

The Grand al-Nuri Mosque, more than 800 years old, was where ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared a caliphate in 2014 during his only public appearance, the BBC reports.

 ISIS—whose fighters had been seen bringing explosives to the site, according to CNN—claimed the mosque in Mosul's Old City had been destroyed by American aircraft, but US commanders swiftly denied the claim, saying there had been no strikes in the area.

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