ISIS Leader Baghdadi Abandons His Men in Mosul
U.S. officials believe Islamic State (ISIS) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has fled the besieged city of Mosul, leaving behind local commanders and die-hard followers to fight the battle against Iraqi troops, and is now hiding out in the desert in a bid to keep himself alive.
Military intelligence indicated that Baghdadi abandoned Mosul as early as October 2016 when Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the beginning of an operation to recapture the city, the largest population center his group has ever held thus far, according to India Today.
Iraqi government adviser Hisham al-Hashimi believes Baghdadi is heading to a desert stretch north of the Euphrates river inhabited by Sunni Arab tribes.
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"It's their historic region, they know the people there and the terrain; food, water and gasoline are easy to get, spies are easier to spot," he told Reuters.
U.S. commanders are seeing the weakening of ISIS based on Baghdadi's declining media exposure. His last recorded speech was in November 2016 wherein he called on his followers to fight the "unbelievers" and "make their blood flow as rivers." Now, postings of his announcements and speeches on Telegram and other social media have dropped significantly, and his tweets are reduced 45 percent since 2014 after Twitter shut down its 360,000 accounts.
So far, Baghdadi is successful in evading his pursuers, having learned from the mistakes of terror leaders before him. He utilizes multiple couriers unlike al Qaeda founder Osama Bin Ladin, who relied on just one. He also switches cars during trips, a lesson learned from the drone strike that killed al Qaeda figure Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen in 2011.
Mosul is important for ISIS. It is there where Baghdadi stood on the Great Mosque and declared himself ruler of all Muslims in 2014. But the 108,000-strong Iraqi force is simply no match for his 6,000 fighters who have been reduced by more than half as of today.
