Security forces kill Daesh self-proclaimed leader in Iraq: PM Kadhimi

Kadhimi wrote in a post published on his official Twitter page that Abu Yaser al-Issawi, the self-proclaimed leader of the terror group in Iraq and its “deputy caliph,” had been killed. He, however, did not provide any information about when and where the top-brass terrorist had been eliminated.

“We promised and fulfilled. I gave my word to pursue Daesh terrorists, we gave them a thundering response,” the Iraqi prime minister tweeted.

He added, “Our heroic armed forces have eliminated Daesh commander Abu Yaser al-Issawi as part of an intelligence-led operation. Long live Iraq and its patriotic armed forces.”

We promised and fulfilled. I gave my word to pursue Daesh terrorists, we gave them a thundering response. Our heroic armed forces have eliminated Daesh commander Abu Yaser Al-Issawi as part of an intelligence-led operation.
Long live Iraq and its patriotic armed forces.— Mustafa Al-Kadhimi مصطفى الكاظمي (@MAKadhimi) January 28, 2021

Iraq declared victory over Daesh in December 2017 after a three-year counter-terrorism military campaign.

The terror outfit’s remnants, though, keep staging sporadic attacks across Iraq, attempting to regroup and unleash a new era of violence.

Daesh has intensified its terrorist attacks in Iraq since January 2020, when the United States assassinated top Iranian anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy head of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), along with their companions in a drone strike authorized by former US president Donald Trump near Baghdad International Airport.

In its latest attack, Daesh claimed responsibility for a rare twin explosion that tore through a busy area of central Baghdad on January 21, killing at least 32 people and wounding 110 others.

The first attacker drew a crowd at the bustling market in the capital’s Tayaran Square by claiming to feel sick, then detonated his explosives belt, the Interior Ministry said.

As more people then flocked to the scene to help the victims, a second suicide bomber set off his explosives.