“By taking these individuals off the battlefield, it creates some really disruptive effects to enemy command and control,” Colonel John Dorrian, US spokesperson for Operation Inherent Resolve, said in a Pentagon press briefing.
Jabar Yawar, chief of staff and spokesperson for the Kurdish Peshmerga ministry, praised the international coalition’s efforts. “Of course, this will be quite effective,” he told Rudaw English. “As the operation nears, the coalition is intensifying their airstrikes on ISIS in Mosul.”
“This is a standard war tactic,” Yawar explained, noting that the goal is to destroy ISIS ammunitions and stores, kill commanders, and reduce morale among the militants before the major offensive is launched.
Two of the commanders “removed” in Mosul include “propaganda minister Dr Wa’il” and “deputy military emir Abu Jannat” who was responsible for military operations in Mosul and manufacture of chemical weapons, Dorrian stated on Twitter.
He said that coalition airstrikes were “relentless” in their campaign to take out ISIS leaders in Mosul in order to prepare for the ground offensive expected to be launched within a matter of weeks.
#Coalition strikes are #relentless—hunting #ISIS in #Mosul and taking out their leaders on the battlefield #defeatdaesh
— OIR Spokesman (@OIRSpox) September 29, 2016
In the press briefing, Dorrian estimated that there are between 3,000 and 4,500 ISIS militants remaining in Mosul and reinforcements are not able to enter the city in large numbers though they are still able to move in smaller numbers.
On September 13, the Pentagon announced they had destroyed an ISIS chemical weapons plant near Mosul.
