‘ISIL facing growing internal divisions’

The Takfiri ISIL group is said to be facing growing divisions among its members in Iraq amid new advances by Iraqi forces against the terrorist outfit, Press TV reports.

Local sources say the Takfiri group has split into 23 smaller branches.

They say ISIL members no longer obey the orders of a single command and fight for more money and better positions.

The group is also facing resistance by the local people in the country’s northern city of Mosul due to the crimes committed by the Takfiri militants.

“On the military level, the (ISIL terrorist) group is besieged from different areas [in Mosul]. Local people are also refusing ISIL’s orders because they have seen crimes committed by the group,” Hashem al-Kendi, an Iraqi political analyst, told Press TV.

“Some sources also say the group’s leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been injured and cannot lead the group anymore. So all of these together made the group weaker,” he added.

Some reports also say the people of Mosul have formed resistance brigades to secretly kill the leader of the terrorist group, as they have successfully managed to target the group’s leaders and members in the past.

“ISIL is not strong, its strength comes from regional support, especially the financial support coming from the Persian Gulf [Arab] countries and from the West,” Wael Rikabi, another Iraqi political analyst, said. “Without financial, intelligence and logistical support, ISIL is weak. The group is now divided and does not have any active presence on the ground in Nineveh [Province].”

Citing local reports, Press TV’s reporter Rahshan Saglam said that some ISIL leaders have fled Iraq because of recent losses in the country.

ISIL launched an offensive in Iraq in June last year and took control of Mosul, the country’s second-largest city, before sweeping through parts of Iraq’s heartland.

The terrorists have committed heinous crimes and threatened all communities, including Shias, Sunnis, Kurds, and Christians during their advances in Iraq.

Iraqi soldiers, police units, Kurdish forces, Shia and Sunni volunteers have been engaged in joint operations to drive the terrorists out of the areas they have seized.

DB/HJL/MHB

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