Iraq keeps heat on Islamic State by targeting leaders
Iraqi intelligence and military operations against IS have dealt a heavy blow to the group, which has lost a number of its leaders and fighters in recent months both inside and outside of Iraq.
Spokesman for the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi Armed Forces, Brig. Yahya Rasoul, said June 6, "The Islamic State is trying to hide in the desert, mountainous and valley regions, but the security and military redeployment will leave them no space to exploit for transportation and supplies."
The Iraqi intelligence services have been intensifying operations against the Islamic State over the past months, pursuing its new caliph Abdullah Qardash in cooperation with the US-led international coalition that killed former caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in October 2019.
Every other day the Iraqi authorities announce the arrest of IS operatives in the northern and western areas of the country and often the killing or the arrest of an IS leader. Most recently on May 27, the Iraqi authorities announced the killing of Mutaz al-Jabouri, known as Haji Tayseer, and nicknamed “the architect of death.”
A week before the operation targeting Jabouri, the National Intelligence Service, which is still run by Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, announced the arrest of Abd al-Nasser Qardash, IS’ second-in-command and brother of the new caliph.
