ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—ISIS militants have completely blocked all major roads and bridges in and out of the city of Mosul to prevent the advance of Iraqi troops and people from leaving, residents inside the city have told Rudaw.
A Mosul resident who spoke to Rudaw by telephone said that the extremist group has deployed many of its fighters in all parts of the city and they are on constant vigil.
“ISIS has rigged the left side of the city with bombs and explosives and around 3,500 fighters have been deployed across the city,” he said.
“Many ISIS fighters from Diyala, Tikrit and Anbar are now in Mosul,” he explained.
He reported that ISIS leaders have warned the population through Mosque loudspeakers against any attempt to leave the city.
The situation in the city is very tense, the Mosul resident said, especially since ISIS quashed an attempted revolt within the group.
According to the Mosul resident, many of the ISIS foreign fighters are deployed to such front-lines as Bartala, Tilkef and Talafar.
Reports out of the city last week said that ISIS had quashed a plot by some of its members to revolt and collaborate with the approaching Iraqi army and killed 58 members involved in the plot.
Saeed Mamuzini, a Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) official in charge of Mosul affairs, told Rudaw that the 58 plotters were executed and buried in unmarked locations.
Their families have been denied their corpse, Mamuzini said, “because ISIS called them apostates and traitors.”
Sabah Numani, a spokesperson for Iraq’s anti-terrorism forces told Rudaw that he has been in contact with some influential figures inside Mosul who coordinate with the army.
“The attempted revolt is proof that ISIS has lost not only the support of the Mosul people, but also that of its own members,” Numani said.
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