The US general leading the multinational coalition fighting the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria expects the militant group to begin relying on irregular tactics after its defeat in Mosul, Iraq.

Briefing reporters via satellite link from Baghdad at the Pentagon today, Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend said IS has primarily fought coalition troops by taking and holding ground in armed combat, with the assistance of improvised explosive devices and suicide bombers. With the fall of Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city and a major base of military operations for the self-declared caliphate, US military officials are bracing for a change in tactics.

“I think that what we'll see is, as [IS] comes under greater and greater pressure, they will devolve into a more insurgent-like method of operation,” Townsend said in response to a question from Al-Monitor. “They'll try to hide with the population. Their cells will get smaller. Instead of companies and platoons, they'll go to squads and cells, much smaller elements hiding in the population. They'll disperse. They'll be smaller. They'll be more covert.”

The coalition has gotten a glimpse of those tactics in the days since the fall of Mosul, as IS fighters who remain in the city — numbering perhaps as many as 200 — have refused requests for unconditional surrender. Instead, Iraqi forces are bracing for a new wave of suicide attacks.