Daesh Ringleader Killed by Popular Forces in Northern Iraq
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), also known as Hashd al-Shaabi, said a ringleader of the Daesh (ISIL or ISIS) terrorist group has been killed by the forces in Tal Afar, a town located approximately 50 km west of Mosul in northern Iraq.
The Hashd al-Shaabi, in a statement, announced that the head of “special missions” of Daesh, known as “Amou”, has been killed in a rocket attack by the popular forces southwest of Tal Afar, the Arabic-language Alsumaria news agency reported.
In another development, a large minefield laid by Daesh militants South of Samara was cleared, Mohammad Abbas, a commander of the Hashd al-Shaabi said.
On October 16, 2016, the Iraqi army backed by Federal Police and the Hashd al-Shaabi, launched a massive operation to retake Mosul, the last major stronghold of the Takfiri militants of Daesh in the Arab country.
In recent years, Iraq has been facing the threat of terrorism, mainly posed by the Daesh terrorist group.
Daesh militants made swift advances in much of northern and western Iraq over the summer of 2014, after capturing large swaths of northern Syria.
However, a combination of concentrated attacks by the Iraqi military and the volunteer forces, who rushed to take arms after top Iraqi cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani issued a fatwa calling for fight against the militants, blunted the edge of Daesh offensive and later forced the Takfiri group to withdraw from most of the areas it had occupied.