Coalition commander says most of Islamic State’s top brass killed
Commander of the U.S. led coalition, Lieutenant General Steve Townsend speaks during an interview with Reuters at a military base north of Mosul, Iraq, January 4, 2017. REUTERS/Mohammed Al-Ramahi
“ In fact, almost all of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s inner circle has been killed in the last six months, six to nine months; have been killed with precision strikes by the coalition. So that’s senior leaders”, said Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, commander of the Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve.
“We assess right now that there’s somewhere between 2,000 plus or minus in and around western Mosul, including the area out to Tal Afar,” Townsend told reporters at a Pentagon briefing via a conference call from Baghdad late Wednesday, adding that the total of IS militants in both Iraq and Syria stands between 12,000 and 15,000.
Iraqi government forces launched a major campaign last month to retake western Mosul from IS militants, having recaptured the eastern side late January after three months of fighting.
Iraqi and coalition commanders have highlighted faster collapses in IS defenses in western Mosul, with the group’s combat and finance resources wearing out.
Recent insider reports said IS supreme leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had ordered fighters in a speech to escape urban areas to the mountains, a presumable acknowledgement of defeat.