MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Iraqi security forces have managed to eliminate an aide of Daesh extremist group leader Abu Bakr Baghdadi during an operation in the eastern Diyala province, the country’s defense ministry said in a statement on Saturday.
"Troops of the First Battalion of the Twentieth Infantry Brigade, under the control of the command of the Tiger operations, succeeded in eliminating criminal Hashem Nasseef Jassem Al-Hayali, assistant to terrorist Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, in the Al-Muhith district of Abu Sayda in northern Diyala province,” the statement said.
According to the statement, a number of al-Hayali’s supporters were injured during the operation.
In June, Syrian Ambassador to Russia Riyad Haddad told Sputnik that Baghdadi had been wounded, with the Syrian government expecting his elimination soon.
The Daesh terror group, also known as the Islamic state, is outlawed in the United States, Russia and many other nations.
