Iraqi forces kill senior Islamic State group leader in Syria raid

PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo — An Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service member conducts a night raid training exercise along with partner nation special operations forces near Amman, Jordan, May 15, 2024. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Brandon White via U.S. Defense Visual Information Distribution Service)

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi security forces have killed a senior member of the Islamic State group in Syria who was responsible for carrying out attacks against Iraqi government forces, the Iraqi National Security Service said on Tuesday.

Abu Zainab, an Iraqi national, was killed in the Syrian city of Raqqa "during the past days" in cooperation with U.S.-led coalition forces, it said in a statement.

A spokesperson for the U.S.-led anti-ISIS coalition did not respond to a request for comment.

The U.S.-led coalition is working with Iraqi security forces and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in Syria against remnants of the Islamic State group.

In Iraq, the group was defeated in 2017 but IS militants still wage regular attacks on police, the army and Iraqi state paramilitary units.



(Reporting by Ahmed Rasheed and Timour Azhari; Editing by Christina Fincher)