Islamic State leader Baghdadi abandons Mosul fight to field commanders, U.S. and Iraqi sources say

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

WORLD NEWS | Wed Mar 8, 2017 | 12:54pm EST

Islamic State leader Baghdadi abandons Mosul fight to field commanders, U.S. and Iraqi sources say

By Isabel Coles, John Walcott and Maher Chmaytelli | MOSUL, IRAQ/WASHINGTON

U.S. and Iraqi officials believe the leader of Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, has left operational commanders behind with diehard followers to fight the battle of Mosul, and is now hiding out in the desert, focusing mainly on his own survival.

It is impossible to confirm the whereabouts of the Islamic State "caliph", who declared himself the ruler of all Muslims from Mosul's Great Mosque after his forces swept through northern Iraq in 2014.

But U.S. and Iraqi intelligence sources say an absence of official communication from the group's leadership and the loss of territory in Mosul suggest he has abandoned the city, by far the largest population center his group has ever held.

He has proved to be an elusive target, rarely using communication that can be monitored, and moving constantly, often multiple times in one 24-hour cycle, the sources say.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-iraq-baghdadi-idUSKBN16F1DF

[louis-t]

1. Fucking coward that he is.

I hope he never sleeps again. The most under-reported story of the last few years is that finally the Iraqi Army is standing up.