Iraqi forces confirm deaths of senior ISIS figures in late-January airstrike

SALAH AL-DIN — Iraqi security forces confirmed Saturday that a Jan. 31 airstrike in Salah Al-Din killed key Islamic State leaders, according to a statement from the Joint Operations Command.

The statement said an F-16 airstrike targeted an ISIS hideout in the Zarka area, Salah Al-Din, based on intelligence from the Military Intelligence Directorate. The operation was “planned and monitored for several days by the targeting cell of the Joint Operations Command.”

Authorities confirmed the deaths of seven ISIS members following forensic analysis and coordination with the international coalition.

Among those killed was Daham Mohammed Alewi, known as Abu Saeed Al-Dandoushi, who was ISIS’s so-called Wali–or governor–of Kirkuk. The statement described him as “responsible for multiple terrorist operations and the killing of innocent civilians in Wadi Al-Shay, the Hamrin Mountains, and Hawija.”

Shahada Alawi Saleh, known as Abu Issa, was also among the dead, identified as “the Hamrin sector commander for ISIS gangs.” Another slain member was Bassem Rabie Al-Battoosh, described in the statement as “one of the important terrorist members in ISIS gangs.”

The Joint Operations Command said security forces “will continue to pursue the remnants of ISIS” and emphasized that “there will be no leniency in punishing the defeated terrorist groups.”

The Islamic State emerged in 2014, controlled major cities like Mosul and Tikrit, and declared a “caliphate.” Known for extreme violence and targeting minorities, the group was militarily defeated in Iraq by 2017 by Iraqi forces, Kurdish Peshmerga, and a U.S.-led coalition. However, ISIS remnants persist as an insurgent force, conducting periodic attacks from remote areas.