Nineveh official says ISIS is moving its families out of Iraq

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—Members of the Islamic State (ISIS) have started moving their families out of Mosul in anticipation of an Iraqi, Kurdish and coalition attack on the city, said a local official.

Member of the Nineveh provincial council Khalaf al-Hadidi told Rudaw that the group has begun sending families and children out of Iraq and to other Arab countries in the region.

Al-Hadidi who maintains contacts inside the city said that many ISIS families have gone to Libya and the Egyptian Sinai.

ISIS captured Mosul in June 2014 and has since turned the city into one of its strongholds in the region.

US officials also announced earlier this month that many ISIS commanders have moved to Libya which they have chosen as their new hub.

A Kurdish official told Rudaw this week that more than 100 militants fled the city towards Syria last week and the group executed 36 members for desertion.