Iraq says it killed top Islamic State group figure

Baghdad — 

Iraqi forces person killed 9 Islamic State radical commanders, including the militants’ apical fig successful the country, Baghdad announced Tuesday, with the Pentagon saying 2 U.S. troops were injured during the raid.

Iraq's Joint Operations Command said successful a connection that counterterrorism forces "killed 9 terrorists, among them the alleged politician of Iraq" for IS, naming him arsenic Jassim al-Mazroui Abu Abdel Qader.

The connection said the raid successful the bluish Hamrin Mountains was carried retired "with method support" and quality provided by the U.S.-led anti-jihadi conjugation and said that "large quantities of weapons" were seized successful the cognition which was "still ongoing."

Pentagon spokesperson Major General Pat Ryder said that U.S. Central Command and Iraqi forces "conducted a spouse raid successful Iraq targeting respective elder ISIS leaders" overnight.

"The raid resulted successful the decease of aggregate ISIS operatives," helium told journalists, utilizing an acronym for the Islamic State group.

"We bash person reports of 2 U.S. work members that were injured," Ryder said, adding that "both of them are successful unchangeable information being treated for their injuries."

The IS radical overran ample swaths of Iraq and neighboring Syria successful 2014, proclaiming its "caliphate."

It was defeated successful Iraq successful 2017 by section forces backed by the planetary subject coalition, and successful 2019 mislaid the past territory it held successful Syria to U.S.-backed Kurdish forces.

But remnants of the radical stay progressive successful Iraq and proceed to motorboat sporadic attacks.

A connection from the bureau of Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani announced "the sidesplitting of the alleged politician of Iraq and 8 elder leaders of the violent Daesh organization," utilizing the Arabic acronym for IS.

Sudani said the cognition targeted IS hideouts successful the Hamrin Mountains, vowing to "pursue ... and eliminate" jihadists wherever they whitethorn beryllium successful Iraq.

Iraqi information forces, supported by the U.S.-led coalition, person carried retired galore raids connected suspected IS hideouts.

The U.S. subject announced connected Friday that "precision airstrikes" conducted by Iraqi forces earlier this period had killed a elder IS person and 3 different militants.

At the extremity of August, a associated cognition by U.S. and Iraqi forces killed 15 IS radical fighters successful Iraq's occidental desert.

A study by United Nations experts published successful July estimated determination were astir 1,500 to 3,000 militants remaining successful Iraq and Syria.

The United States has astir 2,500 troops successful Iraq and 900 successful Syria arsenic portion of the coalition, which Washington and Baghdad announced past period volition extremity its decade-long subject ngo successful Iraq wrong a year.