WorldAn estimated 2,000 IS fighters are left in west Mosul to defend their bastion against a massive offensive by the Iraqi security forces, a senior US intelligence official said Monday. “There's about 2,000 remaining,” the official told reporters on condition of anonymity during a trip to Iraq by the new Pentagon chief, Jim Mattis. The estimate which the US-led coalition supporting Iraqi forces gave before the October 17 launch of a huge operation on Mosul was that the city was defended by 5,000 to 7,000 jihadists. The coalition has not provided figures but it has said that the four-month-old campaign on Mosul had inflicted heavy casualties on IS. Commanders and experts expect that the fighting in west Mosul could be the bloodiest yet.

Source: Sunday Times February 20, 2017 12:45 UTC