Iraqi authorities have asked UNESCO to halt all reconstruction operations at the Al-Nuri mosque and evacuate the entire complex until the devices are dismantled.
Five large bombs were discovered hidden in the walls of the historic al-Nuri mosque in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, a remnant of the ISIL (ISIS) armed group's hold on the region.
The mosque, famous for its 12th-century leaning minaret, was destroyed by ISIL in 2017 and has been a focal point of restoration efforts by the UN cultural agency, UNESCO, since 2020.
The UN agency said five large-scale explosive devices, designed to cause significant destruction, were found inside the southern wall of the Prayer Hall on Tuesday.
“These explosive devices were hidden in a specially reconstructed section of the wall,” UNESCO said in a statement on Saturday.
“Iraqi authorities were immediately informed, secured the area and the situation is now fully under control. “One bomb has been defused and removed, while the remaining four are interconnected and will be safely removed in the coming days.”
Iraqi authorities asked UNESCO to stop all reconstruction operations at the Al-Nuri Mosque and evacuate the entire complex until the devices were dismantled.
ISIL leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared “a caliphate” from the mosque a decade ago on June 29, 2014, leading to its destruction when fighters blew it up during the battle to liberate Mosul in 2017. .
Mosul remains in ruins
The discovery of the bombs underscores the ongoing challenges in clearing Mosul of explosives and revitalizing its devastated urban areas.
International efforts, supported by the United Nations, are focused on demining and helping the city recover. Despite progress, much of the old city of Mosul remains in ruins, marked by warning signs of minefields, highlighting the complexity of post-conflict reconstruction.
UNESCO aims to complete the full reconstruction of the Al Nuri mosque by December, “finally erasing the stigma of Daesh occupation,” the statement said, using the Arabic acronym for ISIL.
A decade after the armed group declared its caliphate across large parts of Iraq and Syria, ISIL no longer controls any territory, has lost many prominent leaders and is largely absent from news headlines.
Still, the group continues to recruit members and claim responsibility for deadly attacks around the world, including deadly operations in Iran and Russia earlier this year that left many dead.
