Senior ISIS leader arrested in joint Iraqi-Kurdish operation
Al-Shujairi had forged his personal ID to evade the security forces, Rasool added.
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A senior ISIS leader has been arrested in a joint Iraqi-Kurdish operation, a top security official announced on Saturday.
Mohammed Wahbi Faris Al-Shujairi, known by his nom de guerre Abu Ahmed, was a “general coordinator” between the so-called Wilayat (governor) of southern Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, according to Yehia Rasool, the spokesperson for Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi.
The General Directorate of Counter-Terrorism in the Kurdistan Region capital Erbil observed the terror leader until his capture, according to the statement.
Al-Shujairi had forged his personal ID to evade the security forces, Rasool added.
On Thursday, an Iraqi airstrike killed another senior ISIS member (that the group had appointed as the ‘ruler’ of Iraq’s western Anbar province).
Almost five years after it was declared territorially defeated in Iraq, ISIS still launches hit-and-run attacks against security forces and civilians, mainly in the northern and eastern parts of the country, particularly in the disputed territories between Erbil and Baghdad.
The Iraqi and Kurdistan Region forces have recently increased their coordination to combat these ISIS remnants.
In early February, Peshmerga forces and the Iraqi Army launched a joint operation in the disputed province of Kirkuk to secure areas where ISIS still has hideouts, according to security officials.