Iraqi security forces have killed a high-ranking commander of the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group, and detained more than a dozen other extremist during a counter-terrorism operation in the country’s northern province of Nineveh as government troops and allied fighters from Popular Mobilization Units are trying to purge the Arab country of the last remnants of the terror outfit, Press TV reported.
“Troops from the Nineveh Operations Command launched a major security campaign in Badush district, northeast of Mosul, and managed to kill a senior Daesh leader,” Major Azad Fouad told Arabic-language Dijlah television network on Sunday.
“The troops also arrested 17 Daesh militants,” Fouad said, adding that a large amount munitions and firearms were seized from the Takfiris as well.
The development occurred a day after voluntary fighters from Popular Mobilization Units – commonly known by the Arabic name Hashd al-Sha’abi – and soldiers from the Salahuddin Operations Command launched joint operations in 30 villages of Iraq’s north-central province of Salahuddin, and destroyed three militant hideouts as well as two underground tunnels used by Daesh members.
Arabic-language al-Maalomah news agency, citing an unnamed Hashd al-Sha’abi source, reported that the troops also detonated 70 explosive devices in the process. Two voluntary fighters were injured after they entered a booby-trapped house.
H.M