Iraqi warplanes kill senior Islamic State leader, three companions in Anbar
A Shi’ite volunteer wearing a mask, who has joined the Iraqi army to fight against the predominantly Sunni militants from the radical Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), looks on during a parade on a street in Kanaan, Diyala province, June 26, 2014.
Anbar (IraqiNews.com) – A senior Islamic State leader was killed Wednesday in an air raid on the Iraqi province of Anbar, a security source was quoted as saying.
Speaking to the privately-owned Almaalomah news website, the source said that the Iraq Air Forces targeted an Islamic State leader and three of his companions on a motorbike between Lake Tharthar and al-Baghdadi district in Hit, west of Anbar, leaving them all dead.
“The IS leader, identified as Raad al-Madloul, was the mastermind of several terrorist attacks that targeted security forces in Anbar,” the source said.
He added that the warplanes also targeted several locations of IS militants in Anbar’s desert areas.
IS declared a self-styled “caliphate” in a third of Iraq and neighboring Syria in 2014. A government campaign, backed by a U.S.-led international coalition and paramilitary forces, was launched in 2016 to retake IS-held regions, managing to retake all havens, most notably the city of Mosul, the group’s previously proclaimed capital.