US airstrike kills top ISIS commander in Iraq
Attack aims to stem group's resurgence, exact retribution for deadly bombing in Baghdad
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Iraqi federal police at a checkpoint in Baghdad on Friday, during tightened security measures imposed after a man identified as a top ISIS leader in Iraq - Jabbar Salman Ali Farhan al-Issawi, also known as Abu Yasser - was killed during a United States airstrike in a joint mission with Iraqi forces.
PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
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BAGHDAD • A United States airstrike in a joint mission with Iraqi forces killed a top commander of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militant group in Iraq, an attack aimed at stemming the group's resurgence and exacting retribution for a deadly double-suicide bombing in Baghdad last week.
The group commander, Jabbar Salman Ali Farhan al-Issawi, 43, also known as Abu Yasser, was killed on Wednesday near the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, US-led military coalition and Iraqi officials said on Friday.
ISIS no longer holds territory in Iraq but has continued to carry out deadly attacks.
The question of what kind of force is required to keep the group in check has been at the heart of US and Iraqi negotiations over reducing the number of US troops in Iraq, and the US role in the raid illustrates Iraq's continued reliance on the American military.
A coalition spokesman, Colonel Wayne Marotto, called al-Issawi's death "a significant blow" to the terrorist group's efforts to regroup. Al-Issawi coordinated the group's operations in Iraq, counterterrorism experts said.
Col Marotto said al-Issawi was responsible for developing and relaying guidance to ISIS fighters and for helping to expand its presence in Iraq. He said nine other fighters with al-Assawi were killed in the operation.
Iraqi counterterrorism forces led the operation with coalition air, intelligence and surveillance support, Col Marotto said.
The US-led coalition has a policy of not commenting on which countries conduct specific airstrikes. But senior Iraqi security officials, who asked not to be identified because they were not authorised to release the information, said US aircraft carried out the assault.
Iraqi officials said the attack on an underground hideout avenged the deaths of the 32 Iraqis killed in the ISIS attack on a Baghdad market recently. More than 100 others were wounded in the attack, the deadliest in Baghdad in four years.
ISIS claimed responsibility for the bombing, saying it was targeting Shi'ite Muslims and Iraqi security forces.
"We promised and fulfilled," Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi tweeted about the operation that killed al-Issawi. "I gave my word to pursue Daesh terrorists, we gave them a thundering response," he said, using an Arabic acronym for ISIS.
In addition to the airstrike, the operation included raids on ISIS guesthouses by Iraqi counterterrorism forces, according to an Iraqi military statement.
Iraqi officials described al-Issawi as the "deputy caliph", or second in command, in the group.
Little is known about the overall head of the group, identified by ISIS as Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi. Al-Qurayshi succeeded Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who died when he detonated a suicide vest as US forces raided his hideout in Syria in 2019.
While operational commanders like al-Issawi do not get as much attention as top terrorist leaders like al-Baghdadi or al-Qurayshi, counterterrorism officials said they play pivotal roles.
"Militants like Baghdadi get the lion's share of attention, but operatives like al-Issawi do the dirty work for groups like ISIS, and serve as the sinew between higher and lower echelons of the organisation," said counterterrorism analyst Colin P. Clarke at the Soufan Group, a New York-based security consulting firm.
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