Source: ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi arrives in Hawija southwest of Kirkuk

(IraqiNews.com) Kirkuk – A leader within al-Hashed al-Sha’bi said on Tuesday, that the ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi arrived in the outskirts of Hawija southwest of Kirkuk after a setback in four failed attacks within 72 hours, while called the leadership of the army’s Air Force to intensify its raids in that area.

Jabbar Mamouri, the leader within al-Hashed al-Sha’bi militia, said in a statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “We have reliable information that the leader of ISIS Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi arrived in Hawija region and held important meetings with the rest of the field leaders that had been killed in four failed attacks, targeting Alas and Ajil fields, over the past 72 hours.”

Mamouri added, “The arrival of al-Baghdadi in Hawija is an indication of the critical situation of the ISIS as well as the loss of morale and the emergence of mass escape that led to the collapse of several lines of defense in Sharqat,” calling “the [army’s] Air Force to invest the presence of al-Baghdadi by intensifying air strikes in order to eliminate the head of the snake.”