Iraqi forces capture senior Daesh leader near Mosul

Iraqi forces have captured a fugitive Daesh ringleader, who used to hold a “prominent” post within the Takfiri terror group.

Iraqi forces have captured a fugitive Daesh ringleader, who used to hold a “prominent” post within the Takfiri terror group.

Reporting on Saturday, Iraqi News website said the terror kingpin was captured in the al-Shaiqara village, north of the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, the capital of Nineveh Province.

The terrorist leader used to function as the Takfiri group’s “police chief” for Nineveh, collecting the revenues of its members.

Mosul, once Daesh’s so-called headquarters, was liberated last July, upon which the ringleader went into hiding in the Badush mountains in the province’s town of Tal Kaif.

Daesh unleashed a campaign of bloodshed and terror in Iraq in 2014, overrunning vast swathes in lightning advances in the northern and western parts of the country. Iraqi Army soldiers and allied fighters then launched operations to eliminate Daesh and retake lost territory.

Daesh’s territorial rule in Iraq came to an end in December 2017, when Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced an ultimate victory against the Takfiris.