ISIS seals off Mosul mosque preparing for last stand
BAGHDAD -- Islamic State militants have closed the streets around Mosul's Grand al-Nuri Mosque, residents said, 1apparently in preparation for a final showdown in the battle over their last major stronghold in Iraq.
Dozens of fighters were seen by residents taking up positions in the past 48 hours around the medieval mosque, the site where Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared an Islamist caliphate in July 2014.
