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The Islamic State terrorist organization has quashed a rebellion plot in its Iraq stronghold Mosul involving one of the group's commanders who aimed to defect and support Iraqi government forces in their offensive to re-capture the city later this month, Reuters reported.

Residents said 58 suspected conspirators were executed by drowning and buried in mass graves outside the city after IS uncovered the plot.

The plot was reportedly led by a local aide of IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, according to accounts given to Reuters by multiple civilian and military sources, the identities of whom were not published due to concerns for their safety.

Dissidents had planned to undermine IS's hold on Mosul by supporting Iraqi government forces when they launch a major operation to re-take the city on October 19.

The plot was uncovered after one of the conspirators was caught with a message on his phone speaking of weapons transfers, Reuters reported. He later revealed to IS the location of three weapons stores to be used to support the Iraqi army.
IS overran large swathes of Iraq north and west of Baghdad in 2014, although Iraqi forces, backed by US-led coalition airstrikes and Kurdish security forces, have since regained significant ground from the jihadists.

Mosul is the group's last major stronghold, after government forces in September seized Fallujah, a city 50 kilometers (30 miles) west of Baghdad, in a major setback for IS.

Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, is at least five times bigger than any other IS-controlled city, Reuters says, and its capture would effectively eliminate the group's self-declared caliphate from Iraqi territory.

The battle for Mosul is expected to be the biggest ground assault in Iraq since the US-led invasion in 2003, with the United Nations warning that it could also result in an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, threatening to displace as many as one million people.

More than 3.3 million Iraqis have been forced from their homes by conflict since the start of 2014.

(Staff with agencies)