"The explosion occurred at the ISIL commanders meeting in al-Sarjkhaneh in Mosul city center," a local source said.

The source noted that the commander of Jeish al-Asreh and some other ISIL commanders have been killed in the blast, and said, "It is not yet clear what caused the blast at the secret meeting of the ISIL commanders."

Jeish al-Asreh is one of the ISIL's special battalions and is under the direct supervision of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Iraqi media outlets reported on Sunday that the ISIL's elite army started to hide its military troops to protect them from aerial bombings, while a large number of the elite force's leaders fled using passenger cars and other civilian vehicles.

“ISIL terrorist gangs started to hide its vehicles inside houses and bury its troops in the center of city, in order to protect them from the airstrikes by Army Aviation, international coalition and Iraqi air Force, ”Al Sumeriya News reported.

“A large number of ISIL military leaders fled using civil vehicles from the city of Mosul toward the Syrian city of Raqqa.”

ISIL tried to use thousands of families as human shields, while prevented the families of liberated areas from communicating with Mosul residents.

SA - 12