Top Aid to Former Iraqi Dictator Killed

TEHRAN (IQNA) – Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri who was a senior official in Iraq during Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship is reported to have been killed by Iraq’s volunteer forces.

According to the governor of Sallaheddin province, he was killed during an operation against the ISIL terrorists in the Hamrain area of the province.

Iraqi officials said they were carrying out DNA tests on a body they believe belongs to Douri.

Photos purporting to show his body circulated on social media but not from any official sources.

Douri remained at large following the US-led invasion of Iraq that toppled Saddam in 2003.

In July 2014, a purported audio message from al-Douri was released on a website loyal to Saddam’s ousted Ba’ath Party, calling on all Iraqis to join the ISIL Takfiri militants.

The 15-minute tape by al-Douri described the Takfiris as heroes and praised their deadly offensive against the Iraqi government.

The ISIL started its campaign of terror in Iraq in early June 2014. The heavily-armed militants took control of Mosul before sweeping through parts of the country’s Sunni Arab heartland.

The terrorists have been carrying out horrific acts of violence, including public decapitations, against all Iraqi communities such as Shias, Sunnis, Kurds and Christians.

Iraqi soldiers, police units, Kurdish forces, Shia volunteers and Sunni tribesmen have been engaged in joint operations to drive the terrorists out of areas they have seized.
http://iqna.ir/fa/News/3164692