ISIS commander: 7,000 fighters ready to defend Mosul

An Islamic State commander, Abu Azem al-Muhajir, from Saudi Arabia, claimed Monday that at least 7,000 fighters stood ready to defend Mosul, ISIS’ capital in Iraq, against the forthcoming US-Iraqi offensive. He said that the town has more than half-a-million Sunni Muslim inhabitants, who will never accept its return to Shiite rule from Baghdad. DEBKAfile: US intelligence estimates that no more than 3,000 ISIS fighters are present in Mosul.