Iraqi security forces late last week killed a senior commander of the Islamic State group, the prime minister said on Thursday, a week after a twin suicide bombing by ISIS terrorists killed dozens in Baghdad.
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The Islamic State group had quickly claimed responsibility for the Jan. 21 blasts at a busy open-air market in the Iraqi capital. At least 32 people were killed and more than 100 were wounded.
Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi tweeted on Thursday that an "intelligence-led" operation in northern Iraq killed 39-year-old Abu Yasir al-Issawi, deputy commander and ISIS chief in Iraq.
The country's security forces have faced mounting pressure after the Jan. 21 attack in central Baghdad, with many saying the attack -- the Islamic State group's first strike in the Iraqi capital in three years -- was a failure of Iraq's intelligence.
"I gave my word to pursue the [ISIS] terrorists, we gave them a thundering response," al-Kadhimi said.
Al-Issawi, born Jabbar al-Issawi, was killed in an operation west of the city of Kirkuk where ISIS fighters are known to still have a presence. The operation was lead by Iraq's elite Counter-Terrorism Service, in cooperation with Iraqi intelligence. Iraqi forces clashed with ISIS gunmen and al-Issawi was killed in the firefight, the counter-terrorism agency said on its Facebook page.
According to differing reports, al-Issawi was killed in an airstrike during a joint mission carried out by US and Iraqi forces.
His "death is another significant blow to [ISIS] resurgence efforts in Iraq," said coalition spokesman Wayne Marotto.
Abu Yasir, the most senior Daesh leader in Iraq, was killed during an air strike near Kirkuk, Jan. 27, 2021. The @iraqicts & @CJTFOIR partnered operation resulted in the deaths of 10 Daesh terrorists. Yasir's death is another significant blow to Daesh resurgence efforts in Iraq. pic.twitter.com/cdfToIgBCK
— OIR Spokesman Col. Wayne Marotto (@OIRSpox) January 29, 2021
"The Coalition will continue to remove key leaders from the battlefield and degrade the terrorist organization. Terrorists-you will never live in peace- you will be pursued to the ends of the earth," he added.
"If this is indeed confirmed, it's significant news, al-Issawi headed up [Islamic State's] entire Iraq operation," tweeted Charles Lister, a director at the Middle East Institute think tank in Washington. "It's worth awaiting more substantive evidence … previous claims have turned out to have been false."
The Baghdad attack also came as the US-led coalition forged ahead with plans to withdraw troops from the country. US troops have gradually withdrawn from bases across Iraq to consolidate in Baghdad and the Ain al-Asad airbase in Anbar.
However, Iraq remains heavily reliant on US weaponry and surveillance technology and expertise to root out the ISIS presence across the country's north and the vast western desert.
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