Top ISIS strategist killed in Iraq–Coalition operation in Syria
Shafaq News – Baghdad
On Friday, Iraq’s Counter-Terrorism Service (ICTS), in coordination with the Global Coalition, eliminated a senior ISIS official in a cross-border strike in Syria.
ICTS identified the target as Omar Abdul Qader Bassam, known as Abu Abdulrahman al-Halabi, the group’s head of external operations. He was linked to the 2013 bombing of Iran’s embassy in Beirut, foiled plots in Europe and the United States, and oversight of ISIS’s so-called “remote provinces.”
The agency said Coalition jets struck Bassam after months of monitoring, calling the killing a “strategic loss” for ISIS following the elimination of more than half a dozen senior leaders in similar operations in recent months.
The operation comes as the Coalition prepares to scale down its mission in Iraq and transition toward a bilateral security partnership with Baghdad.
Read more: After US withdrawal: Why experts warn of an ISIS resurgence in Iraq.
