Senior Kurdish commander says demise of terror group’s leader will mean collapse of the outfit’s system
An Iraqi forces tank advances towards the village of Abu Shuwayhah, south of Mosul. Pic/AFP
London: Islamic State (IS) chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been trapped by the Iraqi Army, which entered the terrorist group’s stronghold of Mosul for the first time in over 2 years for a final assault, a report has claimed.
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The battle for Mosul, where the self-declared caliph of IS is believed to be hiding, is likely to end in a decisive defeat for the terrorist group, the Independent reported.
Fuad Hussein, chief of staff to Kurdish President Massoud Barzani, told the daily that his government had information from multiple sources that “Baghdadi is there and, if he is killed, it will mean the collapse of the whole [IS] system”.
Baghdadi has kept himself hidden for the last eight or nine months, according to Hussein, who added that the caliph had become very dependent on IS commanders from Mosul and Tal Afar.
Other senior figures in IS, especially those from Syria and other nations, have been killed since their triumphs in the summer of 2014, when they took over much of northern Iraq and eastern Syria.
The presence of Baghdadi in Mosul may prolong the battle as his surviving adherents fight to the death to defend him. If he is killed, IS would have to choose a new caliph in the middle of a battle, but no successor would have the authority and prestige of Baghdadi, the leader who surprised the world by establishing the caliphate after capturing Mosul in June 2014.
Hussein said, “It is obvious that they will lose, but not how long this will take to happen.”
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