BREAKING NEWS

US general: ISIS fighters trying to flee Mosul, Iraqi forces to prevail

QAYYARA WEST AIRFIELD - A US general in the international coalition in Iraq says that Islamic State forces defending western Mosul are disorganized and some foreign fighters are trying to leave the city.
Government forces nontheless face a "very hard fight" in the battle for the city but they will prevail, US Air Force Brigadier General Matthew Isler said.
Iraqi forces recaptured the eastern half of Mosul in January after 100 days of fighting, and launched an attack on districts lying west of the Tigris river on Feb. 19.
Isler said Islamic State's operational leaders and foreign fighters were withdrawing from the battlefield, leaving local militants to fend off advances by Iraqi forces.