Iraqi forces kill senior ISIS figure

Officials did not reveal when or where the operation to kill the suspected ISIS leader was conducted.

Kurdistan 24 2021/07/31 20:35

An ISIS identification card belonging to Abu Saad, whom Iraqi security forces reportedly killed in a recent counterterrorism operation. (Photo: Iraqi Government)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Iraqi counterterrorism forces have killed a senior ISIS member in rural parts of Diyala province, military spokesman Yehia Rasool announced on Saturday.

Members of the Iraqi counterterrorism service killed Abu Saad al-Sameen, Rasool said, describing the suspected ISIS member in a statement as "one of the most effective ISIS leaders" planning suicide and improvised explosive device attacks.

The official noted that Sameen was the so-called Emir of the Abi Zar al-Ghafari sector in Diyala province, close to Lake Hamrin.

Additional details, including where and when the operation was conducted, were not made public.

The terrorist organization has recently mounted attacks on civilians and security forces alike. In one incident in the capital of Baghdad, a suicide bomber killed more than 30 people in a popular market.

On Friday, ISIS gunmen attacked a crowded funeral service in a village in rural Salahuddin province, reportedly killing at least six people and wounded over a dozen others.

A Peshmerga Ministry official warned recently that the threat posed by ISIS was on the rise in Kirkuk and other areas.