MOSUL (Sputnik) — The Iraqi government troops also destroyed eight pieces of Daesh military hardware and prevented several suicide bombing attacks, Jawdat added.
The Iraqi federal police established control over the mosque, considered a symbolic place for Daesh since its leader proclaimed a so-called caliphate from there in 2014, on Sunday.
Fighting for the 800-year-old mosque is part of an operation by Iraqi forces to reclaim the IS-held Old City. Government forces backed by a US-led international coalition are pushing deeper into densely-populated neighborhoods in western Mosul after taking control over eastern districts across the Tigris river.
The United Nations estimates the six-month campaign to retake the Daesh stronghold has displaced nearly half a million people since October 2016. Lise Grande, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Iraq, said earlier in the day another 500,000 civilians could still be trapped inside western Mosul.
