daesh leader albaghdadi has fled mosul us official
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today
Arab Today, arab today
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today

Daesh leader al-Baghdadi has fled Mosul: US official

Arab Today, arab today

Arab Today, arab today Daesh leader al-Baghdadi has fled Mosul: US official

Iraqi government forces supported by fighters from the Abbas Brigade
Washington - ArabToday

Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has fled Mosul and has apparently delegated tactical control of the battle for the city to local commanders, a US defense official said Wednesday.

The official said the elusive leader, who appeared in public in Mosul in July 2014 to proclaim a "caliphate," fled the former IS bastion some time before Iraqi security forces surrounded the city during an offensive to retake it.

"He was in Mosul at some point before the offensive. We know he's been there," the official told reporters.

"He left before we isolated Mosul and Tal Afar," a town to the west of the city, the official added.

Baghdadi is not believed to be exercising any kind of tactical influence on how the Mosul fight will play out, the official said.

"He probably gave broad strategic guidance and has left it to battlefield commanders."

The hunt for Baghdadi is being led by various groups including US special operations forces, while the anti-IS coalition focuses on killing battlefield commanders.

IS has lost most of the land it once held in Iraq and Syria but hopes to cling to scraps of a self-declared caliphate, the official said.

Since summer 2014, when IS was at its peak just ahead of the US-led war on the group, the jihadists have lost 65 percent of the land they'd seized across much of northern Syria and large parts of Iraq.

IS now is looking beyond the seemingly inevitable loss of their strongholds of Mosul in Iraq and Raqa in Syria.

"I don't think they have given up on their vision of their caliphate yet," the official said, noting IS hopes to hold on to parts of eastern Syria and western Iraq.

"They still believe they can function and are still making plans to continue to function as a pseudo-state centered in the Euphrates River valley."

In Mosul, Iraqi security forces backed by Western air power have recaptured the eastern side of the city and are making gradual progress into the western side in a bloody fight.

IS jihadists realize their days are numbered in Mosul and, despite having spent two years building defensive measures in Raqa, also understand they will lose that bastion too, the official said.

"Logically, any of those leaders would look at that situation and say from a military perspective this may be not be tenable for us to hold," the official said.

"Raqa would probably not be the final battle against ISIS... There is still ISIS in the rest of the Euphrates river valley downstream that will have to be dealt with."

About 15,000 IS fighters remain in Iraq and Syria, including some 2,500 in Mosul and the neighboring town of Tal Afar and as many as 4,000 still in Raqa, the official said.

source: AFP

arabstoday
arabstoday

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

daesh leader albaghdadi has fled mosul us official daesh leader albaghdadi has fled mosul us official

 



Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

daesh leader albaghdadi has fled mosul us official daesh leader albaghdadi has fled mosul us official

 



GMT 05:50 2017 Tuesday ,15 August

20 killed in Takhar funeral attack

GMT 04:51 2017 Thursday ,13 April

Huda Kattan among top 10 beauty influencers

GMT 09:44 2018 Saturday ,06 January

Aoun to deliver speech in Rome this afternoon

GMT 09:14 2017 Saturday ,30 December

London stocks end year on record high

GMT 11:47 2017 Monday ,11 December

France's rightwing shifts after Macron victory

GMT 04:49 2013 Monday ,27 May

Feng Shui living room concepts

GMT 19:45 2017 Wednesday ,18 January

The UAE Releases Global State of the Future Report

GMT 23:40 2017 Wednesday ,18 October

OIC condemns terrorist attack in Jeddah

GMT 16:41 2017 Saturday ,18 February

FBMA International Show Jumping Cup 2017 competition

GMT 17:43 2017 Tuesday ,14 February

Spanish activists taken to court over BDS activism

GMT 21:37 2017 Sunday ,02 July

Religious tourism lottery to be held on Monday

GMT 15:27 2017 Saturday ,24 June

US imposes ban on fresh Brazil beef imports

GMT 06:07 2017 Tuesday ,24 October

Air Force set to create new ISR unit with Global Hawk

GMT 03:49 2017 Thursday ,22 June

Dalai Lama says will visit Trump

GMT 03:52 2017 Sunday ,15 January

Drydocks World and GDRFA sign MoU partnership
Arab Today, arab today
 
 Arab Today Facebook,arab today facebook  Arab Today Twitter,arab today twitter Arab Today Rss,arab today rss  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
arabstoday, Arabstoday, Arabstoday