Islamic State leaders are fleeing Mosul

[JackLuis]

Islamic State leaders are fleeing Mosul as Iraqi forces move in: US general

This has been reported for the last week in the foreign press. An estimated 3-5,000 ISIL fighters are still in the city and ~40,000 Iraqi and Kurdish fighters are surrounding them, but leaving a corridor for them to leak out to Syria.

Launched on Monday, the long-awaited advance on Mosul was making quick progress, but US President Barack Obama joined a chorus of warnings that the battle ahead would be tough.

Officials have said the retaking of Mosul — Iraq’s largest military operation in years — could take weeks or months, and warned that the hundreds of thousands of civilians still in the city could be used as human shields.

“But make no doubt, the Iraqi security forces have the momentum and they know it. They are as motivated to get to Mosul as we are to help them get there,” Volesky said.

I hope they show more courage than they did when ISIL took over and the Iraqis ran off and left their tanks for ISIL.