After the United States revealed details of a rescue operation planned in July to free journalist James Foley and others in Syria, intelligence has suggested that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has dispersed the remaining hostages to multiple locations in order to make them harder to locate, said a military source.
The source also added that the guard forces around the hostages have been doubled and the group's pattern of behavior on the ground has also changed after reports about the scope of the new aerial surveillance in the region were made public, reported Fox News.
Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said that such disclosures always give away the roadmap and that they prove to be damaging to the hostages.
The details of the July rescue mission were released by the Defense Department and National Security Council a day after the ISIS posted a video on the internet showing Foley's execution.
On being asked about the consequences of providing the information in such a public way, Defense Department spokesman John Kirby said on Friday that the administration was forced to talk about the operation after details were leaked to some reporters. He added that it was important to provide it a context and although they regretted talking about it then but it was still the right call.
