‘Dangerous’ Islamic State leader killed by Iraqi troops, southwest of Kirkuk
Members of Iraqi Federal Police carry their weapon at the frontline during a battle with Islamic State militants in western Mosul, Iraq June 5, 2017. REUTERS/Erik De Castro
Speaking to Baghdad Today website, the source said “An Islamic State leader called Shehab Ahmed al-Sallab was killed by the troops of 56th brigade and the Federal Police at the outskirts of Hawija, southwest of Kirkuk.”
Sallab, according to the source, “is one of the group’s most dangerous leaders.”
Earlier today, Federal police launched a wide-scale security operation in Kirkuk in the wake of recent attacks launched by Islamic State group against some of the villages in the province.
On Saturday, eight Sunni tribal fighters were killed and injured in an Islamic State attack on the road of Makhus village in Hawija.
Thousands of Islamic State militants as well as Iraqi civilians were killed since the government campaign, backed by paramilitary troops and the coalition was launched in October 2016 to fight the militant group, which declared a self-styled “caliphate” from Mosul in June, 2014.
In December, the Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi announced gaining control on all the territories that were captured by Islamic State, since 2014. However, the group still has dormant cells, through which it carries out attacks, across Iraq like it used to do before 2014.