"We do expect it to be an extraordinarily difficult fight," Dorrian said.
Removing ISIS Leaders From Battlefield
Part of efforts to defeat the terrorists is to "take every opportunity that we can to remove ISIS leadership figures from the battlefield," he said.
A coalition precision airstrike Feb. 13 in Mosul killed Haqi Ismail Hamid al Emri, a legacy al-Qaida in Iraq member who had a leadership role in ISIS security networks in Mosul, Dorrian said.
Additionally, he said, precision strikes in January in Mosul killed Abu Abbas al Qurayshi, who coordinated the movement of vehicle bombs and suicide bombers inside Iraq; and Abdullah Yasin Sulaymani al Jaburi, who was responsible for anti-aircraft defense assets within Mosul.
ISIS Feels Pressure in Raqqa
Syrian Democratic Forces continue advancing from the north and east of the key Syrian city of Raqqa, Dorrian said.
Coalition partners on the ground in Syria have liberated more than 300 square miles and more than 100 villages since Feb. 4, when they began reclaiming and clearing the land east of the city, he said.
"We're now seeing signs that ISIS fighters [and] its leaders in Raqqa are beginning to feel the pressure," he said.
They are becoming "increasingly paranoid" and have intensified measures to control the population and destroy televisions, mobile phones and satellite dishes in order to maintain control of access to information about their losses, he said.
"These are not the actions of an enemy who feel they're winning," Dorrian explained.
In addition, he said there are reports of ISIS executing fighters who try to abandon the fight or are suspected of collaborating with forces trying to liberate the city. ISIS leaders are also reportedly moving their own families out of Raqqa, but detaining civilians who attempt to flee, Dorrian said.
(Source: US Dept of Defense)
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