Key deputy of Daesh leader arrested in Iraq

Iraqi police arrested a key deputy of deceased Daesh leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi on Tuesday in Kirkuk province, reports Anadolu Agency.

Abu Khaldoun was the terrorist group’s military commander for Salah al-Din province, according to Iraq’s Security Media Cell communications body.

He was arrested in the town of Hawija and was carrying a fake ID card.

READ: Turkey captured wife of Baghdadi, Erdogan announces

Under Baghdadi, Daesh spread over wide segments of Iraq and Syria beginning in 2013, eventually claiming the formation of a “caliphate” in the region as it plotted and carried out gruesome attacks that reached far beyond its main territorial bastion.

Daesh leader Abu Bakr Baghdadi killed himself during a US military operation in Syria – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]

Baghdadi had been a top target for the US under both the Trump and Obama administrations and had a $25 million bounty on his head.

As the US-led coalition took back territories once under the terror group’s hold, Baghdadi increasingly stayed in the shadows, only rarely releasing pre-recorded audio messages to his followers.

OPINION: Baghdadi is dead, but what about Daesh?