He added, “The organization discovered that ruling is different from occupying a city whose population exceeds 2 million people. Add to this the crimes committed against Christians and Yazidis, the demolition of shrines, the displacement, the unemployment, the downfall of the city's economy, the doubling of the inflation rate and the bankruptcy of a large number of traders. These factors helped change the popular mood against IS.”
The behavior of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s fighters, their violation of families' privacy and of tribal values, their dissemination of reactionary laws and their imposition of certain lifestyles and dress codes unfamiliar to the population, witnesses say, also changed their city.
According to a former lawyer in Mosul, IS “did not provide the people with any economic, security or social solutions to their crises. It rather deepened their crises while waging an international and regional venture, and the people are aware that they will end up paying for it before the members of the organization.”
He added, “IS wanted to put an end to any hopes of life in the event that the caliphate shattered, and it is playing for time to promote this feeling.”
While the people of Mosul agree that IS is not part of the city's future, the violence is increasing as fighters from elsewhere join the group, which is calling for ever more volunteers from other countries.
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