ISIS declares state of emergency in terror capital Raqqa amid fears of an attack
Some jihadis have tried to escape the city already as ISIS put up coverings to try and shield themselves from being bombed
EXTREMIST thugs ISIS have declared a state of emergency in their capital of Raqqa as US military believe the city is about to come under siege.
Colonel Steve Warren said: "We have seen this declaration of emergency in Raqqa, whatever that means.
"We know this enemy feels threatened, as they should."
Officials monitoring social media say they have evidence of fighters moving around in Raqqa.
Some have even tried to escape the capital.
This increased movement may make it easier for military to target the jihadis on the ground.
Warren said: "They see the Syrian Democratic Forces, along with the Syrian Arab Coalition, maneuver both to their east and to their west.
"Both of these areas becoming increasingly secure, and the Syrian Democratic Forces increasingly able to generate their own combat power in those areas.
"We've had reports of ISIL repositioning both their combat capabilities, I guess what they think may be coming next."
Military officials also say that fighters are putting up coverings in the street to try and protect from air strikes.
It is believed that evil ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi is staying in Raqqa at the moment.
A US defence official told CNN: "Baghdadi remains extremely careful.”
But as ISIS are losing ground in Syria, a new offensive by the group in Iraq has killed 29, reports say.
The terrorists attacked a gas plant in the north of Bahdad as well as bombing other locations in and about the Iraqi capital.
The bombings at the gas plant knocked blew the top of one of the units.
Crowds gathered to watch the flames and thick black smoke rise out of the building.
This is the fifth day of IS-claimed attacks in Baghdad.
Since the siege began, over 140 people have died.
Special Presidential Envoy Brett McGurk said: “This perverse caliphate is shrinking.”
But ISIS have also been losing large stretches of land in Iraq.
They have relinquished control of the western Anbar province, cutting a supply line between Syria and Iraq.
Nathaniel Rabkin, managing editor of Inside Iraqi Politics said: "It's possible that some of the political unrest in Baghdad has led (the Islamic State group) to think that they can somehow stir up more chaos than usual.
"ISIS hopes that somehow if they just keep up the pressure, the Iraqi government will at best collapse or at least become incapable of pursuing a cohesive approach.”
The attacks on Sunday also included a car bomb in the town of Latifiyah that killed seven.
Another bombing in a commercial area of Baghdad killed at least eight people.
Iraq’s Prime Minister has said that ISIS’s hold on the country has shrunk to 14 per cent.
But as ISIS’s grip in the middle east is wavering, the Iraqi leadership is also in meltdown.
Parliament has not met for two weeks after supporters of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr stormed Baghdad’s Green Zone.
The fortified area surrounds many government buildings including the Republican Palace.
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