Aftermath of Mosul offensive: ISIS militants fleeing to Syria as coalition forces close in

Hundreds of ISIS fighters are fleeing ISIS stronghold in Mosul, Iraq to neighboring Syria as coalition forces (Kurdish fighters, Peshmerga fighters, paramilitaries and U.S troops) closed in on Mosul, a powerful tribal leader revealed to CNN on Monday.

Sheikh Abdullah Alyawer, a tribal leader in the town of Rabia, on Iraq's border with Syria, revealed ISIS militants scared for their livesand their families were fleeing the city each day, and crossing into Syria at Ba'aaj, an ISIS-controlled crossing point south of Sinjar.

The route was entirely under ISIS control, he said, while fleeing civilians with no affiliation to ISIS usually ended up in the Syrian town of al Houl, which is under Kurdish control.

The coalition force about 108,000 which exceeds ISIS' numbers, is closing in on the beleaguered city, still home to an estimated 200,00 to 300,000 civilians and has taken on significance as the cultural capital of ISIS.

The coalition forces are currently celebrating gaining some ground in the battle to take over Mosul from ISIS but are aware that ISIS will offer more resistance when Mosul's perimeter is breached.