Iraqi security forces have killed nine senior Islamic State (IS) commanders, including the group’s top figure in the country, in a raid conducted in northern Iraq’s Hamrin Mountains, officials announced on Tuesday. Among those killed was Jassim al-Mazrouei, known as Abu Abdel Qader, who had assumed leadership of IS operations in Iraq less than a year ago.
The Joint Operations Command of Iraq confirmed in a statement that counterterrorism units executed the operation with “technical support” and intelligence from the US-led anti-jihadist coalition. In addition to neutralizing the high-ranking IS members, Iraqi forces also seized significant quantities of weapons, with the operation still ongoing, according to the statement.
Fadel Abu Raghif, an Iraqi security analyst, described Mazrouei as the “so-called governor of Iraq” for IS, emphasizing the significance of his death in the fight against the group.
The Islamic State once controlled large areas of Iraq and Syria, declaring a “caliphate” in 2014. However, it was militarily defeated in Iraq by 2017, with support from the international coalition, and lost its last Syrian stronghold in 2019. Despite this, remnants of IS continue to conduct sporadic attacks across Iraq.
In a separate statement, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani hailed the success of the operation, which targeted IS hideouts, and vowed to “pursue and eliminate” jihadist elements throughout Iraq. Sudani’s office confirmed the elimination of Mazrouei and eight other senior IS leaders in the raid.
The US military has been conducting joint operations with Iraqi forces against IS, and last Friday, it announced precision airstrikes that killed a senior IS leader and three militants earlier in October. In late August, another joint US-Iraqi operation resulted in the deaths of 15 IS fighters in Iraq’s western desert.
A July report by UN experts estimated that between 1,500 to 3,000 IS militants remain active in Iraq and Syria. The United States currently has around 2,500 troops stationed in Iraq and 900 in Syria as part of the coalition, although both nations have announced plans to end the decade-long mission in Iraq within the next year.
