In Mosul, during the ongoing restoration of the historic Al-Nuri mosque, a team from Unesco stumbled upon five bombs actually planted there by Islamic State (IS) jihadists. The information came up on Tuesday, and it was not until late Friday when a UN agency representative spoke about the details.
These were found to be large-scale explosive devices intended to cause great destruction buried inside southern wall of part of their prayer hall at al-Nouri mosque. The Al-Nuri mosque dates back to the 12th century and is famous for having an iconic leaning minaret called Al-Hadba or “the hunchback” which witnessed significant damages during the battle for liberation of Mosul from IS’s control.
According to Iraqi army, IS, which occupied Mosul for three years, had earlier planted explosives before detonating them. As such, Unesco has been leading initiatives geared towards reconstructing this mosque and other cultural sites of significance in this city that was largely left into ruins after 2017’s war.
Unesco also said that Iraq’s armed forces quickly secured the area preventing any unwanted situation. One of these bombs has been taken out safely while four others weighing 1.5 Kg each are still connected and expected to be cleared in the next days.
The agency added that these explosive devices had been concealed inside walls constructed specifically around them; hence they could not be detected when the premises were being cleared by Iraqi military personnel in 2020 according to AFP news agency.
General Tahseen al-Khafaji described how provincial deminers have sought help from Baghdad’s Defense Ministry because of how complicated these bombs are even as he confirmed their discovery. That is why all construction work at this place will remain halted until it becomes safe to defuse those remaining ordnance items.
Alluding back to July 2014 when then-leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared establishment “the Caliphate”at Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s Al-Nouri mosque, the historical Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi mosque was one of the key landmarks in Mosul. Nevertheless, in 2017, Iraqi troops with support from a US-led coalition ousted the jihadist group that controlled vast areas of Iraq and Syria imposing harsh rule.
The mosque took its name from Nureddine al-Zinki who ordered it built in 1172 as part of his unifying Syria project during which there were several renovations. Most of this old structure was lost but the minaret was preserved and reconstructed using some 45,000 original bricks salvaged from the ruins.
Expected to be finished by December 2024, the current restoration process is largely financed by UAE. “If we complete this work successfully,” said Unesco director-general Audrey Azoulay earlier this year, “it will help remove forever not only the physical marks but also ‘the stigma’ left by ISIS on its occupation.”
This is not the first unexpected discovery during the restoration . In January 2022 teams found an underground prayer room forming part of the original twelfth-century building adding another layer to centuries-old history of Al-Nuri mosque.
