Syrian rebels kill IS caliph as attacks continue in Iraq, Syria
The Islamic State’s third caliph has been killed in southern Syria as Iraqis retain control of the organization amid concerns and confusion about identities, fighter whereabouts and security gaps.
ERBIL – The killing of the third ‘caliph’ of the Islamic State (IS) was announced over a month after it happened, in an area where few expected. He is the second top leader of the international terrorist organization to be killed this year.
The man appears to have been killed in a southern province known as the cradle of the 2011 uprising, by forces that had fought for years against the central government in Damascus before “reconciling” with it in exchange for being granted de facto control over their area. The forces may have been supported in this battle by Syrian government forces, according to some reports.
In mid-October, local media reported that a man known as Abdul Rahman Al-Iraqi was killed in the town of Jassem in the northern part of the Daraa province. At that time, he was described as the emir for the southern region of the group operating in Iraq and Syria.
Only a month and a half later did IS clarify that, in fact, its leader had been killed that day.
