A local source in Nineveh province, on Tuesday, [said] that the unrest that rocked the city of Mosul has forced the leader of… “Daesh” [ISIS] named Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to come out of his hiding place in one of the city’s neighbourhoods.
Al-Baghdadi was riding a white four-wheel-drive car … surrounded by three heavily armed militants, Al Sumaria reported, as covered by ISNA.
Reuters reports that Iraqi forces have begun operations to run ISIS out of southern Mosul. Yesterday, The Washington Post reported that President Obama met with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to talk about the liberation of the northern side of the city, “suggesting that an American-supported, Iraqi-led attack into the city could be imminent.”
Mosul has been under ISIS control since June 2014.
Al-Baghdadi is believed to permanently reside in ISIS’ “terrorist capital,” Raqqa, Syria, where he hides among civilian populations to avoid being targeted in airstrikes.