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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.
An Iraqi soldier wears a protective face mask as he stands guard at a check point, enforcing a curfew imposed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), during the holy fasting month of Ramadan, in Baghdad, Iraq May 3, 2020.REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani - RC26HG9KD5MD

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.

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