Iraqi army says it killed ISIS military leader in targeted strike

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The Iraqi military said it killed an ISIS military leader in a targeted strike in Fallujah, also killing several other militants.

“Relying on intelligence information, the Baghdad Operations Command successfully carried out a military operation to kill Abu Karar, the military leader of the group in the area of Rashad in eastern Fallujah,” the BOC said.

Several other militants also were killed in the strike, it said in a statement. “Security forces launched an assault on the ISIS bases in Fallujah’s eastern areas of Garma and Rashad, destroying bases. The death toll among the militants in the bases has remained unclear,” it added.

Last week, Shiite militias fighting near the Fallujah district of Garma in Anbar province claimed they killed an ISIS leader and five of his deputies.

“In the fight against ISIS in the sub-district of Garma east of Fallujah, Hatam Shahada, known as Abu Mosab Muhajir, was killed along with 20 other militants and two of the killed militants hold foreign IDs,” Brigadier General Mahmoud Marzi, a Hashd al-Shaabi commander, told news agencies on Tuesday.

Also called Popular Mobilization Units or PMUs, the Hashd al-Shaabi are volunteer Shiite militias who have sworn to fight the Sunni ISIS.

Marzi added that Iraqi joint forces consisting of the Hashd al-Shaabi, the Badr Organization and Sunni tribal regiments were locked in an intense battle with ISIS in Garma.