FILE IMAGE: Sputnik/ Iliya Pitalev.
The Syrian intelligence have successfully eliminated yet another prominent leader of ISIS in the southern governorate of Daraa.
On September 5, the Syrian Arab News Agency reported that Muhammad Iyad Abdul Razzaq, a senior security leader of the terrorist group, was killed during a special operation in the town of al-Yadudah in the western Daraa countryside.
A security source told the state-run agency that the terrorist, who is known by his nom de guerre “Abu Qassem al-Aqrabawi,” was first cornered by intelligence officers inside his hideout in al-Yadudah. The terrorist resisted arrest, lightly wounding an officer. However, he was eventually killed. Officers seized loads of weapons and ammunition from the hideout.
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Al-Aqrabawi was reportedly the top security aid of Abu Salem al-Iraqi, the former general leader of ISIS in Syria’s southern region. Al-Iraqi himself was eliminated by the Syrian intelligence in a special operation that took place in the town of Adwan in the western Daraa countryside on August 9.
Under the command of al-Iraqi, al-Aqrabwai planned and carried out a number of assassinations, one of which targeted Sheikh Ahmed al-Baqirat who supported reconciliation in Daraa.
Al-Aqrabwai also orchestrated several attacks on Syrian government troops in Daraa, including the 4 May 2020 attack on the police center in the town of Muzayrib in the western Daraa countryside. Nine policemen were killed as a result of the attack.
The terrorist was living in al-Yadudah under the protection of radical former rebels, some of whom blocked the roads of the town to protest against the killing of their comrade.
Al-Iraqi and al-Aqrabwai were not the only prominent leaders of ISIS in the southern region who were recently eliminated by the Syrian intelligence. On August 15, Mahmoud Ahmad al-Hallaq, who is known by his nom de guerre “Abu Omar al-Jababi,” was killed in a special operation in the town of Tafas. Al-Jababi was ISIS’s top military leader in the region.
The Syrian intelligence recent successful operations in Daraa have, without a doubt, damaged ISIS command-and-control chain in the entire southern region.
The terrorist group’s cells will likely continue to plan and carry attack in Daraa and other parts of the region. However, more leaders of the group will likely fall in the coming weeks and months. With them, many cells will be neutralized.
