The United States may be touting its strikes on ISIS targets in Syria, but one of the terror group's fighters says the hits are trivial at best.
In an exclusive interview with CNN, a Syrian ISIS fighter using the pseudonym Abu Talha said the militant group has been preparing for such attacks.
"We've been ready for this for some time," Abu Talha said. "We know that our bases are known because they're tracking us with radars and satellites, so we had backup locations."
He taunted the U.S.-led coalition that has been pummeling ISIS targets in Syria over the past week, including attacks on mobile oil refineries and vehicles.
"We have revenues other than oil. We have other avenues, and our finances are not going to stop just because of oil losses," the 28-year-old militant said.
"They thought they knew everything. But thank God, they don't know anything. And God willing, we will defeat the infidels."
Abu Talha said he was among the ISIS fighters who took over Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, in June.
He said even if coalition attacks impede ISIS, they're not enough to stop ISIS' mission of fortifying an Islamic state across Sunni parts of Syria and Iraq.
"They hit us in some areas, and we advance in others," Abu Talha said. "If we are pushed back in Iraq, we advance in northern Syria. These strikes cannot stop us, our support or our fighters."
U.S. President Barack Obama admitted the quick rise of ISIS in Syria had been underrestimated at first.
In an interview that aired Sunday on CBS' "60 Minutes," Obama said the U.S. government "underestimated what had been taking place in Syria" during its civil war -- allowing the country to become "ground zero for jihadists around the world."
ISIS defector speaks out
One man who recently left the ranks of ISIS also said the militants took precautions before coalition strikes.
"They almost entirely emptied out the headquarters," the defector, using the name Abu Omar, told CNN's Arwa Damon in Turkey. "Some equipment they hid in civilian neighborhoods. Some they hid underground."
Abu Omar also said ISIS relies heavily on foreign members -- including Westerners -- to carry out its mission.
"The French, they have so much control -- they're even more extreme than we are," the defector said. "They come from France, but it's as if they have been part of the 'Islamic State' for years."
The 29-year-old said he believed in ISIS' goal of creating an Islamic state and left his wife and 3-year-old son behind to go fight.
Abu Omar initially tried to defend the group's atrocities -- including crucifixions, beheadings and indiscriminate killings. But eventually, the brutally became too much for him.
"I used to hope that they would fix their mistakes," he said. "If they had, it wouldn't be like this."
When the United States and Arab partners started pounding the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa last week, many militants scattered. And Abu Omar found an opportunity to flee.
But he still trembles when he talks, fearful he has a target on his back.
Abu Omar said while he still dreams of a caliphate in the region, he is haunted by what he witnessed.
"I saw a 70-year-old sheikh killed in front of me," he said. "The 'Islamic State' can't continue like this. ... There are a lot of youth who are joining -- 14, 15 years old. Maybe my voice can make them think again."
(ALSO)
Isis in Syria: Militant
group al-Nusra claims US air strikes are a 'war against Islam'
The Syrian terror group Jabhat al-Nusra has denounced US air strikes against Isis as “a war against Islam” and vowed to take revenge against the coalition of countries supporting military action in the region.
In an online statement on Saturday, al-Nusra spokesman Abu Firas al-Suri called on jihadists around the world to strike against the global alliance opposing the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.
He said: "These states have committed a horrible act that is going to put them on the list of jihadist targets throughout the world”
"This is not a war against al-Nusra, but a war against Islam."
Led by the US, a coalition of about 40 countries, including Arab states, is taking steps to destroy the radical Islamist group Isis which controls vast swathes of north-eastern Syria and northern Iraq.
Though al-Nusra, which is an affiliate group of is not officially a target of the air strikes, US jets have attacked a new group called Khorasan, which some analysts believe is part of Jabhat al-Nusra.
This international response represents a mutual enemy of former rival jihadist groups Isis and al-Nusra, with recent reports describing an emerging alliance.
An al-Nusra source told Reuters: “There are hardline voices inside Nusra who are pushing for reconciliation with Islamic State.”
An increasing number of al-Nusra fighters are defecting to Isis, which is seen as better organised and better equipped to impose Islamic rule.
The same source, however, also said that the groups would only unite on the order of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.
The Pentagon said that on Saturday US airstrikes hit the Syrian city of Raqqa, the unofficial capital of the Islamic State, as well as Isis forces near the Turkish border.
US Central Command said that jets destroyed an Isis-occupied building and two armed vehicles near the Kurdish town of Kobane at the Syria-Turkey border.
Kurdish fighters are set up to defend Kobane following an Isis advance that sent more than 100,000 civilians fleeing to Turkey. Moderate Syrian rebel group Free Syrian Army said on Saturday that it supports air strikes against Isis but only if it can avoid causing civilian casualties.
Spokesman Hussam al-Marie told the BBC that western countries should also attack Syrian government forces.
He said: "(The) so-called Islamic State is our enemy as much as (President) Assad's regime is our enemy.
"We want Syria free from dictatorship and from terrorism. We need the support of the free world to continue this battle against the regime and Isis (IS). We are fighting on two fronts." The UK joined the air campaign against Isis on Friday following a vote in Parliament in which MPs voted to launch strikes in Iraq, but not Syria.
The UK’s first combat operation took place on Saturday when two RAF Tornadoes were deployed from Cyprus, although no strikes were launched.
The UK also has a Rivet Joint spy plane in the region. France is already involved in the airstrikes in Iraq, whilst Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands have all pledged aircrafts to support the global operation.
European countries are only hitting targets in Iraq where the government has asked for help.
Joe 3:9
Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up:
Job 18:11
Terrors shall make him afraid on every side, and shall drive him to his feet.
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