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The U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State (IS) in the Middle East must prepare for a mass exodus of militants if the Iraqi city of Mosul is liberated, Australian Defense Minister Marise Payne said on Friday.
Speaking about the difficulty of containing an unpredictable enemy, Payne said liberating the makeshift IS capital of Mosul in northern Iraq could occur as early as this year, though dealing with the fallout of success must be in the plans of military planners.
"We know that there will be a reasonable number of foreign fighters who are said to be part of the (IS) numbers in Mosul," Payne told Fairfax Media on Friday.
"We and many of our partners in the coalition are very conscious of that and what happens to them. They may be victims of the operation. They may try to escape the operation. They may survive the operation and try and go elsewhere."
She said there was a real dangers associated with liberating the city, as IS militants and leader could scatter to their countries of origin, or to other, nearby cities and set up resistance elsewhere.
"Obviously there is absolutely no desire in any part of the international coalition for those foreign fighters to be able to return to their countries of origin," Payne said.
"Do they move elsewhere in the region? Do they end up hypothetically heading towards Syria?"
Payne said a number of high-profile IS operatives were "trying to sell property (in Mosul) and get out", as coalition fighters look likely to capture the city in the coming months.
She said she came across this information after a recent meeting with U.S. Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland, Iraqi PM Haider al-Abadi and Iraqi Defense Minister Khalid al-Obeidi in Iraq.
Mosul is currently under IS control, but is under fire from local Kurdish militants as well as Iraqi national forces.
Payne said coalition forces must increase its attention of restabilizing the areas around Mosul if it is captured, and added that Aussie forces would help advise Iraqi special forces if any attack on the city goes ahead.
(APD)
