ISIS Seen to Survive Defeat in Mosul
Islamic State (ISIS) fighters suffered a major blow in their defense in Mosul when their military commander, Abu Abdul Rahman al-Ansary, was killed during operations to clear Bab al-Tob district. This development boosted the morale of government forces who are trying to retake the Iron Bridge.
The Iron Bridge will be the third of five bridges in Mosul spanning the Tigris River to be captured by Iraqi fighters. All bridges have been damaged by airstrikes with the southernmost two already secured. "We are still moving toward the Iron Bridge," said Brig. Gen. Mahdi Abbas Abdullah of the Interior Ministry Rapid Response. "We are taking out snipers hiding in the surrounding building."
A Rapid Response Force spokesman cited the importance retaking the bridge. "It's very key for our forces to secure the riverside and prevent Daesh militants from turning around our advancing forces," he said, using the Arab acronym for ISIS. "Seizing the bridge will help further tighten the noose around Daesh fighters entrenched inside the old city."
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Strong resistance has slowed down the coalition forces' offensives for months. ISIS is putting up a fierce defense in Mosul, being its de facto capital and the largest territory it held. But Aymenn Jawad al-Tamimi, researcher at the Middle East Forum, believes the terror group has a backup plan once it loses the city.
He foresees ISIS going back to being an insurgent group that would carry out sporadic attacks like suicide bombings. He cited ISIS' pledge printed in an internal publication which stated that its Caliphate will not vanish, in anticipation of the fall of Raqqa and Mosul.
"It adopts the idea that the Caliphate does not end with loss of territory and the West in particular should realize the next generation of the Caliphate's soldiers are being nurtured within their borders," al-Tamimi said.
As analyst Patrick Cockburn wrote in the Independent: "ISIS has a tradition of responding to defeats on the battlefield by carrying out terrorist attacks in the region, Europe, Turkey or other parts of the world."
