The Islamic State group — also known as Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis) or Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) — has been facing defeat on nearly all fronts in Mosul ever since the Iraqi Army and the coalition forces led by the United States took the terror group on in order to free Iraq's second-largest city from its grasp.
Isis terrorists have been fleeing Mosul in droves — sometimes dressed as women in order to avoid detection — in the backdrop of the losses the Iraqi Army and the coalition forces have been handing them. Now, it has emerged that five of their elite leaders have fled Mosul, but not before helping themselves to the terror group's treasury.
According to a report by al Sumaira TV: "Five elite members of the Islamic state, including the Treasury Official Abu al-Bara al-Qahtani, fled from the extremist group in Nineveh after robbing millions of dollars." While part of this money could have come from the oil Isis had sold from Iraqi oilfields into the black market, the rest could have come from the robberies Isis terrorists committed in Mosul, forcing fleeing residents to part with their valuables.
"Isis mobilised a group of its members to pursue the fugitives, arrest and execute them immediately. The five elite leaders who hold Arab and foreign nationalities fled toward Tel Afar district and then to Syrian territories," added the report, bolstering suspicion that a lot of Isis terrorists had fled to Syria disguised as civilians.
Isis elite forces vanish
Meanwhile, the al Assrah army of Isis — considered an "invincible power" of the terrorist group — has vanished as quietly as it had appeared on the streets of Mosul. "The detachments of al-Assrah army abruptly disappeared from the alleys of the old city of Mosul, after being deployed in the city a week ago," said a local report.
"There is some suspicion that the Assrah army fled toward Syrian territories, in anticipation of the fall of Mosul to the joint security forces," according to the report, which added that its presence in Mosul was indicative that Isis chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was in town. Their disappearance means Baghdadi, too, may have left Mosul.
Isis weapons destroyed
The coalition forces, meanwhile, are targeting not just Isis terrorists but their infrastructure as well. A local report said: "An aerial strike hit three vehicles carrying heavy weapons belonging to the Isis in Hayy al-Islah al-Zeraei, in the east coast of the city of Mosul, destroying them completely."
