The self-proclaimed leader of the ISIS terrorist organization in Iraq has apparently been killed. "Our heroic security forces have killed Abu Jaser al-Issawi in the course of an intelligence-led operation," Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi wrote on Twitter on Thursday. Al-Issawi had called himself the "deputy caliph" of the ISIS and claimed to be the head of the jihadist militia in Iraq.

ISIS had overrun large parts of Iraq and Syria in the summer of 2014 and brought them under its control. Across state lines, its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, killed in October 2019, proclaimed a caliphate - with himself at its head. Countless people were murdered in bestial ways, with some 10,000 falling victim to the genocide in the Yazidi settlement area of Shengal (Sinjar) alone. Iraq prematurely declared victory over ISIS at the end of 2017, and in neighboring Syria the militia's territorial rule was ended in spring 2019.

Even though thousands of ISIS jihadists have since been arrested, underground structures have formed in Iraq and Syria. In regions such as Deir ez-Zor, Raqqa and Hama in Syria and Kirkuk, Baghdad and Anbar in Iraq, these networks repeatedly carry out attacks. The frequency and quality of these attacks has increased significantly in recent weeks.

Two female politicians beheaded by ISIS in northeastern Syria

For example, ISIS has most recently claimed to have carried out the twin suicide attacks in Baghdad a week ago, killing at least 32 people. Iraqi security forces also blame ISIS for the deadly attack on members of the "Popular Mobilization Units" (Hashd al-Shaabi) in the city of Tikrit over the weekend.

The terrorist militia also claimed responsibility for the murder of two local women politicians near Al-Dashisha in northeastern Syria. The victims were Sada al-Harmoush, co-chairwoman of the Til Shair Town Civil Council, and her deputy Hind al-Khedr, who was also in charge of the economy committee. The two women had been abducted by heavily armed men on January 22. Their decapitated bodies were found hours later by the roadside.