Iraqi forces are slowly advancing in their battle against ISIS in Mosul. In October Iraqi forces began their Mosul offensive campaign but have succeeded in recapturing only a quarter of the city. ISIS is resisting with suicide car bombs as well as regular warfare.
As parts of Mosul and the surrounding areas are retaken an interesting discovery was made. There were many industrial scale weapon manufacturing facilities that ISIS created in and around Mosul. A group based in London called the Conflict Armaments Research Group found that ISIS was manufacturing weapons in and around Mosul using what they termed a “robust and reliable” line of supplies from Turkey to Iraq. ISIS realized that raw materials for weapons would be scarce in Iraq itself so they insured a steady supply of materials from Turkey. This enabled ISIS to manufacture tens of thousands of weapons.
With the retreat of ISIS these armament factories were found. Consequently, ISIS ability to produce arms has been hampered by their retreat. But the Executive director of the group, James Brevan claims that ISIS may have temporarily lost its arms factories for the time being, but seeing the writing on the wall in Mosul, they already moved their top bomb making technicians out of Iraq and into Syria and Southern Turkey where they will be able to continue their work.
ISIS is very well organized and they place a premium on their technical talents and capabilities. Their top fighters and technicians will continue to help ISIS wreak havoc until they are stopped.