Updated

Many Islamic State fighters have tried to elude investigators by posing as refugees, but a bumbling team of terrorists in Iraq reportedly tried a different angle -- dressing as women to blend in.

It didn't work. Police caught the six men wearing dresses and makeup, a security source told Iran's semi-official Fars News Agency on Monday.

The terrorists wore women's clothing specifically because they were trying to escape Fallujah as Iraqi soldiers closed in, the source added. Iraq declared it won back control of the city from ISIS on Friday.

Fars described the cross-dressing terrorists as "beautiful." It's unclear when the arrest took place.

ISIS fighters "have completely lost their morale and they have disguised in order not to be identified by the Iraqi security forces," Jabar al-Mamouri a commander of volunteer forces, told local media.

More than 80,000 non-terrorist civilians have escaped Fallujah amid the intense fighting over the past month, the United Nations reported.

Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, represents the only remaining urban stronghold for ISIS fighters in that country.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.