This file photo taken on May 24, 2017 shows a general view of the Hadba leaning minaret near the Nuri Mosque in the Old City of Mosul on May 24, 2017, during the ongoing offensive to retake the area from Islamic State (IS) group fighters. (AFP Photo)
Irbil, Iraq: The Islamic State group destroyed Mosul's 12th century Al Nuri mosque and its iconic leaning minaret known as Al Hadba when fighters detonated explosives inside the structures on Wednesday night, Iraq's Ministry of Defence said.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi tweeted early Thursday that the destruction was an admission by the militants that they are losing the fight for Iraq's second-largest city.
"Daesh's bombing of the Al Hadba minaret and the Al Nuri Mosque is a formal declaration of their defeat," Al Abadi said, using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group.
The mosque, which is also known as Mosul's Great Mosque, is where IS leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi declared a so-called Islamic caliphate in 2014 shortly after Mosul was overrun by the militants. The minaret that leaned like Italy's Tower of Pisa had stood for more than 840 years.
The IS group blew up the mosque during the celebrations of Laylat Al Qadr, the holiest night of the year for Muslims. The "Night of Power" commemorates the night the Quran was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which is now underway.
An IS statement posted online shortly after the Ministry of Defence reported the mosque's destruction blamed an airstrike by the United States for the loss of the mosque and minaret.
The U.S.-led coalition rejected the IS claim.