Islamic State says over 7,000 fighters ‘ready to defend Mosul’
ERBIL – The US-led coalition said that ISIS has some 3,000 to 4,500 fighters in Mosul, and that there are no signs that the radical is leaving its main bastion in northern Iraq. “We think anywhere from 3,000 to 4,500 [ISIS] fighters are in Mosul, somewhere in that ball park. It’s a mixture of Iraqi and foreign fighters,” US-led coalition’s spokesman Air Force Col. John Dorrian said. However, Saudi fighter of ISIS, Abu Azzam al-Muhajir, told ARA News they have at least 7,000 fighters in Mosul, the ISIS main bastion in northwestern Iraq. “Over 7,000 fighters are ready to defend Mosul,” he said. “Also, there are still 500,000 civilians living in Mosul, and they will not accept to return to the central government’s authority and be rule by the Shia,” al-Muhajir told ARA News. The US-led coalition said it will continue to attack ISIS in Mosul. “They show no signs of really trying to leave Mosul at this point. Really, what they’ve done is they’ve continued to dig