ISIS News Today 2017: Remaining Militant Loyalists Continue Fight in Mosul's Alleyways
Despite the declaration of victory of Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militant group in the city of Mosul, operations are still reportedly under way to search the shattered city for the group's remaining members and their loyal supporters.
According to reports, within the ruins of the Northern Iraqi city, the elderly and women with their children continue to emerge. Some of them could belong to the group of residents who were loyal to ISIS since the militants took over the control of the city since June 2014.
Reports also claim that occasional incidents of fights still happen in some of the old city's alleyways, which remain to be occupied by several desperate ISIS members.
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The Iraqi and U.S. forces began fighting for the freedom of Mosul in October 2016 from the self-proclaimed caliphate declaration of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in 2014.
The fight against the ISIS insurgents also continues in other parts of Iraq, which means that the tasks of the military troops from the U.S. are far from over.
"It's going to continue to be hard every day," Col. Pat Work, the commanding officer of the Second Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division said in a statement.
"Iraqi security forces need to be on the top of their game, and we need to be over their shoulder helping them as they move through this transition to consolidate gains and really sink their hold in on the west side," the colonel also stated. "ISIS will challenge this."
Meanwhile, other reports share that the Syrian Observation of Human Rights reportedly claims that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is already dead based on an uncited report from high-level ISIS sources. However, the militant group's media channels reportedly denied the speculations surrounding their leader's state.
