US general: Daesh leaders, fighters leaving Mosul

By Kasim Ileri

WASHINGTON (AA) – Many Daesh leaders and fighters have begun to leave the Iraqi city of Mosul amid the U.S.-lead coalition offensive there to defeat the terror group, a U.S. general said Wednesday.

“We've got indications that leaders have left. A lot of foreign fighters we expect will stay because they're not gonna be able to ex-filtrate as easily as some of the local fighters or the -- the local leadership,” Army Maj. Gen. Gary J. Volesky, commander of the coalition’s land component said in a videoconference from Baghdad.

He added that there would be a fight but there are fewer Daesh fighters in Mosul at the moment.

Volesky declined to give numbers or from where the fighters are fleeing but the terrorist group controls territory in the northwestern vicinity of Mosul up to the Syrian border.

Volesky said Iraqi forces have momentum, noting the coalition’s air support in the effort.

He added that U.S.’s Apache attack helicopters are conducting night operations.

It is the first time the U.S. has used the choppers that were previously declined by the Iraqi government in similar operations in Ramadi and Fallujah.

According to Volesky, Daesh’s primary response to the Mosul offensive has been to use more “indirect fire” such as vehicle explosives and other homemade devices.

He said Daesh fighters in eastern towns around Mosul set buildings on fire and left those areas and are moving into Mosul.

The coalition is “expecting the enemy to continue to delay, and then try to preserve their combat power so they can get into Mosul and potentially to make a defense”, he said.

Noting the concerns about displacement of residents, Volesky said large numbers of civilians fleeing has not been observed.

“I'd say the next 72 hours, we expect the Iraqis will continue their push, continue some more operations from the Kurds to clear some more of that really defensive line, that limit of advance, and the Iraqis continue in their push to Mosul,” he said.

Volesky also underscored that the U.S. is not supporting Shia militias, citing some of those groups’ sectarian motivation but he did not address concerns expressed about the militias’ presence in northwestern Mosul, saying it is up to the Iraqi government to address sectarian feuds.