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MOSUL, Iraq, Dec. 6-- Iraqi authorities on Thursday began removing debris from the site of the ancient al-Nuri Mosque destroyed last year during battles to dislodge the Islamic State (IS) militants from the old city center of Iraq's second largest city Mosul. In the morning, a team of Mosul municipality and explosive experts started removing the debris in the site. On June 21, 2017, IS militants blew up al-Nuri Mosque and its al-Hadbaa minaret, as Iraqi forces were pushing near the Mosque area in the western side of Mosul. "Removing the debris was preceded by checks to defuse bombs possibly planted by IS militants," Ahmed Ghazi, from engineering force of the army's 16th Division, told Xinhua at the scene. Khalid Mohammed, official from the provincial government, told Xinhua that the team is removing some of the debris and will avoid the original historic bricks of al-Hadbaa minaret, which must be used again to rebuild it. Abu Ahmed Dha An-Noon, resident near the mosque, considered the move as a "positive sign" for a serious start to rebuild the mosque which is part of the identity of Mosul's people. "Rebuilding al-Nuri Mosque represents a hope for the residents of the old city to return to rebuild their houses as most of them were badly damaged," Dha An-Noon told Xinhua at the scene. "Rebuilding the mosque is important because it will encourage people from outside the old city to visit the historic and religious site and bring normality to the old city," Dha An-Noon added. | 
