Alwaght- Local residents of Iraq’s northern Nineveh province have killed a leading member of the embattled ISIS Takfiri terrorist group, according to an Iraqi security source.
In a statement, Army Brigadier-General Hamad al-Jubouri said local tribesmen and residents of Nineveh’s Al-Baaj district had killed the district’s ISIS-appointed “governor” (identified as Ahmed Farhan Hamdan al-Obaidi, a.k.a. Abu Aisha al-Turkmani) and another ISIS member (Luai Ahmed Shata).
Located west of Mosul, the regional capital of Nineveh province, Al-Baaj was liberated from ISIS last year by Iraqi security forces.
According to al-Jubouri, Iraqi police also arrested five suspected ISIS terrorists in eastern Mosul’s Al-Intisar district.
Since Iraqi forces -- with the help of Popular Mobilization Forces--recaptured Mosul from ISIS in mid-2017, they have carried out frequent mopping-up operations aimed at eradicating the terror group’s lingering presence in the area.
Last December, officials in Baghdad declared that ISIS's military presence in the country had been all but destroyed. Remnant of the group, however, continue to carry out sporadic attacks in northern and western Iraq where they maintain hideouts.
