Baghdadi associate dies in bombing attack in Salahuddin
Mutaibija (IraqiNews.com) A prominent Islamic State guide has been killed in an explosion east of Salahuddin province, an official from the Shia-led paramilitary troops said on Wednesday.
“A prominent IS guide, known as Barhoum, was killed in a bomb blast while accompanying militants in Mutaibija, east of Salahuddin,” Jabbar al-Maamouri, of al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Units) told AlSumaria News.
“Barhoum is known to be close to IS leaders. He is said to have guided Baghdadi [the group’s supreme guide] to Mosul and the Grand Nuri al-Kabeer mosque, when he gave his famous sermon,” Maamouri added. “He played a pivotal role in organizing the militants infiltration between Hawija and Mutaibija as well as other regions, given the information he enjoys about their nature.”
IS militants, according to Maamouri, call Barhoum as ‘abu Taha’. “He is from a village in Hawija. His previous job is unknown, however, he joined the group in 2014 and then became an important guide at the sprawling areas between Kirkuk, Salahuddin and Diyala .”
IS holds pivotal regions that link between each of Diyala, Salahuddin and Kirkuk, posing threats to the liberated regions.
Occasional attacks have been witnessed in Mutaibija by Islamic State against government and paramilitary troops deployments since Iraqi forces, backed by a U.S.-led coalition and PMUs, launched a major offensive to retake areas occupied by IS since 2014,
Iraqi security forces detains ISIS armorer in Samarra
Samarra (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi security forces in Salahuddin province arrested on Wednesday an Islamic State member who was responsible for supplying the group’s combat vehicles with armors.
A statement by the Interior Ministry said the so-nicknamed “al-Bari” was arrested in the city of Samarra. It said he was wanted by authorities based on the anti-terrorism law.
Since Iraqi forces began recapturing areas occupied by Islamic State members since 2014, they occasionally ran into numerous munition reservoirs belonging to the group which gave insight into the group’s unusual arming techniques. Findings included decoy fighters and combat equipment as well as improvised vehicle shieldings and drones.
Islamic State militants are currently holding a few pockets in Nineveh, Salahuddin, Anbar and Kirkuk. Earlier this month, the group sustained defeat to Iraqi forces at its previously proclaimed capital: Mosul. The victory meant an effective collapse of the self-styled “caliphate” the group declared in 2014. Iraqi commanders say more than 25000 militants were killed since operations to retake the city launched in October 2016.
Many senior local and foreign leaders and lower-ranking commanders have been killed in the U.S,-backed Iraqi campaign to retake Iraqi cities.
Big ISIS Turban gunned down in Kirkuk
Haqwija (IraqiNews.com) Unknown gunmen shot dead a senior Islamic State military official in southwestern Kirkuk, a local official in the province was quoted saying on Wednesday.
Ahmed Khourshid, a member of the municipal council of Hawija, an Islamic State stronghold, told Alsumaria News that Tarek Amniya, the military bureau official of the Islamic State’s so-called Diyala State, was gunned down by unknown assailants.
The attack took place at al-Madina, a village in Hawija, the source said, adding that Amniya was one of the much-hated figures in Hawija and had carried out executions of many locals sentenced to death by the Islamic State.
Islamic State has held Hawija since the group emerged in 2014 to declare a “caliphate” in Iraq and Syria. Iraqi government forces launched offensives late 2016 to retake areas held by the group. Since then, there have been occasional reports of anonymous assassinations of group members at some cities occupied by the militants.
Hawija currently hosts offices of the Islamic State command offices of Diyala, Salahuddin and others as the group had withdrawn from those areas.
Earlier this month, Iraqi forces declared victory over IS in Mosul, the group’s largest bastion in Iraq, ending more than eight months of fighting. The Iraqi government intends to launch further offensives to clear other havens, including Hawija.