Iraqi authorities announced on Tuesday that security forces killed nine commanders of the Islamic State (IS) group, including the organization’s top figure in the country, during a raid in the northern mountains.
According to Iraq’s Joint Operations Command, counterterrorism forces “neutralized nine terrorists, including the so-called governor of Iraq,” identified as Jassim al-Mazrouei Abu Abdel Qader.
Iraqi security analyst Fadel Abu Raghif informed AFP that Mazrouei took charge of IS’s Iraq operations less than a year ago.
The operation in the Hamrin Mountains was reportedly conducted “with technical support” and intelligence from the US-led coalition.
Additionally, the authorities stated that “large quantities of weapons” were seized during the ongoing operation.
The IS group had seized vast territories in Iraq and neighboring Syria in 2014, declaring its “caliphate.” While it was defeated in Iraq in 2017 with the help of international forces, and lost its last territory in Syria in 2019, remnants of the group remain active in Iraq, continuing to launch sporadic attacks.
A statement from Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s office confirmed the “elimination of the so-called governor of Iraq and eight senior leaders of the terrorist Daesh organization,” using the Arabic acronym for IS.
Sudani emphasized that the operation aimed at IS hideouts in the Hamrin Mountains, vowing to “pursue and eradicate” militants wherever they may hide in Iraq.
Iraqi security forces, with support from the US-led coalition, have conducted numerous raids on suspected IS hideouts.
On Friday, the US military reported that “precision air strikes” by Iraqi forces earlier this month resulted in the death of a senior IS leader and three other militants.
At the end of August, a joint operation involving US and Iraqi forces eliminated 15 IS fighters in Iraq’s western desert.
A July report by United Nations experts estimated that between 1,500 and 3,000 jihadists remain in Iraq and Syria.
Currently, around 2,500 US troops are stationed in Iraq, along with 900 in Syria, as part of the coalition. Washington and Baghdad recently announced plans to conclude the decade-long military mission in Iraq within the next year.
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