Senior Islamic State security commander killed in Diyala shelling

Diyala (IraqiNews.com) A senior Islamic State security commander was killed on Saturday in a rocket shelling northeast of Baqubah, a security source in Diyala has said.

The source told Alsumaria News that Islamic State’s official in charge of security at the militants’ living quarters in Hamreen Basin, Abu Mohamed al-Iraqi, was killed along with a companion in a rocket attack by Al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Units) on Friday at Wadi al-Thalab region (132 Km northeast of baqubah).

Al-Iraqi, originally a citizen of al-Shirqat town, had recently moved to Hamreen Basin to supervise security at the militant group’s living quarters, and is a third-tier leader, according to the source, who asked not to be named.

PMUs have been actively fighting Islamic State on the Iraqi government’s side since the group emerged in 2014.

Iraqi forces, backed by a U.S.-led military coalition, have been fighting Islamic State militants in several pockets across Iraq, most notably the city of Mosul, where operations since October killed at least 3300 militants and confined the group in the city’s western section.

The group has been reportedly sustaining serious losses in personnel, equipment and finances, and reports say it had been ravaged with divisions and infighting, with some fighters also executed or demoted for escaping the battlefield.

The United Nations’ envoy to Iraq, Yan Kubish, said Thursday that the group’s days in Iraq were “numbered”.