Getty Iraq special forces on patrol in Mosul

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The elite military outfit has been given orders to target UK terrorists based on intelligence from government surveillance groups like MI5, MI6 and GCHQ. The list is understood to contain at least 12 bomb-makers who studied electronics at British universities. Another name believed to be on the list is Sally Jones, also known as Sakinah Hussain, who left the UK in 2013 to join the fighting. A senior defence source told The Sunday Times: “A kill list has been drawn up containing the names of hundreds of very bad people. A lot of them are from the UK. The hunt is now on for British Islamists who have effectively gone off grid.

Getty A US soldier in Mosul

A kill list has been drawn up containing the names of hundreds of very bad people. A lot of them are from the UK. The hunt is now on for British Islamists who have effectively gone off grid A senior defence source

“This is a multi-national special forces operation. The SAS have their own part of the plan and they will be going after British nationals. This is a kill-or-capture mission and it has already begun. “We do not have exact numbers of UK nationals in Iraq. The figures which have been in the press are just estimates. We know there are British people in Iraq, but we have no idea of their identities. “That’s the challenge we face. There is a lot of international co-operation because it’s regarded as a global problem.”

The fight against ISIS Fri, November 18, 2016 The battle against ISIS militants (also abbreviated as Daesh, ISIL, IS and Islamic State) continues in the Middle East. Play slideshow Getty 1 of 183 Forces battle against ISIS

Getty An Iraqi soldier fighting in the re-capture of the city of Mosul

One source said that the terrorists will be “hardened, highly radicalised fighters” who may have been fighting for a number of years. The source added these fighters possibly posed the greatest “urban terrorist threat to the UK” the country had ever faced. Security forces have previously expressed their fears of so-called ‘Raqqa scatter’ - where former fighters in the city leave the ISIS stronghold as their power based weakens and British nationals return home in an attempt to establish terror cells and try to carry out Paris-style terrorist attacks.

Getty US soldiers search a house in the Iraqi city of Mosul