In the city of Mosul itself it seems as though ISIS is at a loss. Members of ISIS are still on the city’s streets but most of the foreign fighters appear to have gone. The ones left on the streets tend to be younger, local fighters some of whom don’t even seem to be 25 yet.
Some of the fighters on the streets admit that they’ve been forced to withdraw from Sinjar but only very quietly.
“For the first time you can sense the feelings of fear and frustration in ISIS’s fighters,” one Mosul doctor, who had been seeing ISIS casualties come in, told NIQASH; he had to remain anonymous for security reasons. “As the number of dead and wounded from among their ranks increases, they look more and more like they’ve lost confidence in their leadership.”
After the defeat of ISIS in Sinjar, most other locals have been left wondering who might rule the city in the near future. Some say they believe that ISIS will simply withdraw from the city without fighting any heated battles. But others dismiss them, saying this is nothing but the daydream of people who long for some peace.
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