“As the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, al-Baghdadi has seen his once sprawling terrorist organization reduced to a few key areas of Syria and Iraq…”
A little more than a month after reportedly admitting defeat in Iraq, as reported by Iraqi television station Alsumaria, reports are now coming in that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi narrowly avoided capture or death at the hands of Special Operations troops back in 2013. Documentary filmmaker Sofia Amara recently revealed that a raid by the elite Falcon Brigade of the Iraqi Army missed al-Baghdadi by a matter of minutes, after he was able to scurry out of a hidden trap door in a safe house. The raid occurred the year before al-Baghdadi crowned himself caliph of a worldwide Islamic caliphate.
As the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, al-Baghdadi has seen his once sprawling terrorist organization reduced to a few key areas of Syria and Iraq. In recent months it has been reported that al-Baghdadi has begun sleeping in a suicide vest in anticipation of the inevitable raid he won’t be able to hide from, according to Colonel John L. Dorrian, the spokesman for Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve. No longer wanting to expose himself to the risks of being co-located with his death cult, al-Baghdadi has been keeping a low-profile and is reportedly on the move. Various unconfirmed reports have stated he has been wounded several times in different airstrikes, but no confirmation has been made as of yet.
Currently, military operations by Iraqi forces have slowed as they slowly tighten the noose on ISIS in Mosul. The level of their resistance indicates that the fighters may be seeing the end of their unholy war. As Iraqi Forces continue their siege of Mosul, ISIS fighters are resisting the approach of the military towards the al-Nuri mosque, while bad weather also slows down the advance of the Iraqi liberators. Once Iraqi forces can break through south western Mosul, ISIS presence in Iraq will begin decaying at a rapid pace. Hopefully, the Iraqi Special Operations Forces “flying the black” in Mosul will be able to pressure, pursue, and punish the remaining jihadis into a rapid collapse of the so-called caliphate.
Many of the so-called Holy Warriors in Mosul began fleeing in March, as al-Baghdadi reportedly issued his concession speech. The eastern part of Mosul fell to Iraqi forces in January of 2017 after 100 days of fighting, with the next phase of the campaign launching across the Tigris River on February 19th, 2017. Haider al-Abadi, the Prime Minister of Iraq, stated that only three more months would be required to expel the jihadis from Iraq. While the Prime Minister’s timeline may have been a little ambitious, it does appear that the desired endstate is within reach.
With every street cleared and every phase line crossed, the land of the living gets a little smaller for little Abu. Eventually, there won’t be anywhere for him to run and his footnote in history will be a lonely scorch mark in some remote desert. After Mosul falls, there are only a few more smaller towns in Iraq with significant ISIS presence. The only major city left for ISIS to claim as under their control will be Raqqa, across the border in Syria. As Donald Trump signaled with 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles earlier this week, Syria is not long for the world of unchecked evil.
Chris Erickson is an OpsLens Contributor and former U.S. Army Special Forces soldier. He spent over 10 years in the Army and performed multiple combat deployments, as well as various global training missions throughout the world. He is still active in the veteran community and currently works in the communications industry. Follow him @EricksonPrime on Twitter.
