News / Iraq

Daesh war minister slain in Iraqi army airstrike

Wednesday, 06 January 2016 8:33 AM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 06 January 2016 8:34 AM ]

This file photo shows an F-16D fighter jet operated by the Iraqi Air Force.

A high-ranking figure in Daesh Takfiri militant group has been killed in Iraq’s troubled western province of Anbar during the army operations against terrorists.

On Tuesday, Iraqi fighter jets pounded a terrorist base in the town of Barwanah, located some 200 kilometers (124 miles) northwest of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, killing the purported Daesh war minister, identified as Samer Mohammad Matloub Hussein al- Mahlawi, along with three of his close aides, Lebanon's Arabic-language al-Ahed news website reported.

A source in Anbar Province, speaking on condition of anonymity, also said that security forces and tribal fighters, backed by Iraqi military aircraft, carried out two separate offensives in Barwanah and the city of Hadithah, situated about 240 kilometers (150 miles) northwest of Baghdad, leaving more than 250 Daesh militants killed.

Over 100 vehicles belonging to the terrorists were also destroyed in the operation, including a number of cars rigged with explosive materials.

Iraqi pro-government forces drive a military vehicle during battles with Daesh militants as they try to secure all the neighborhoods of Ramadi, the capital of Iraq's western province on Anbar, on January 3, 2015. (AFP photo)

Elsewhere in Badush district east of the militant-held city of Mosul, nineteen Daesh militants were killed as they were trying to place bombs inside a number of cars. A bomb-making expert, known by the nom de guerre, Habibullah Afghani, was among the slain Takfiris.

Additionally, scores of Daesh terrorists were killed on Tuesday as fighters from Popular Mobilization Units stormed a gathering of the militants in the vicinity of the main hospital in Ramadi, situated about 110 kilometers (68 miles) west of Baghdad.

Members of Iraq's elite counter-terrorism service gather in the city of Ramadi, the capital of Iraq's western province of Anbar, on December 29, 2015 after Iraqi forces recaptured it from Daesh terrorists. (AFP photo)

Violence has plagued the northern and western parts of Iraq ever since Daesh terrorists launched an offensive in June 2014, and took control of parts of the Iraqi territory.

Army soldiers and fighters from allied Popular Mobilization Units are currently battling to win back militant-held regions in joint operations.

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