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9/12/25, 2:54 PM UAE-led restoration project removes scars of Mosul’s ISIS destruction | The National
ISIS fighters shell-shocked Iraq and the world when they seized Mosul in June 2014 after a brief battle with the army, turning the
ancient labyrinth of alleyways into a launchpad for a brutal regional campaign.
It was from the same mosque that ISIS’s former leader, Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, declared a “caliphate” in July that year. His video,
climbing the stairs to deliver his first sermon, is etched into the collective memory of Iraqis and the world.
The leaning minaret, which had stood over Mosul’s Old City for nearly 850 years before ISIS destroyed it, has risen once again
as a guardian of history. A few metres away, the bells of Our Lady of the Hour Convent and Al Tahera churches rang again.
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