"Terrorist [Mouataz al-Jabouri] was killed as a result of an airstrike launched by the international coalition in the district of Deir ez-Zor, according to information and intelligence data provided by the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service", Sabah al-Nouman said, adding that al-Jabouri had been spied on by the CTS for a long time.
Al-Jabouri was the so-called Iraq governor within the Daesh terrorist group system, the spokesman added, noting that he was the main assistant of the Daesh leader for "state affairs", and was also responsible for "planning all terrorist external operations".
Earlier in the day, the state-owned Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported that al-Jabouri was eliminated in the course of an intelligence operation by the CTS.
On 20 May, the INA reported that the country’s National Intelligence Service had detained Abdullah Qardash, one of the Daesh’s senior leaders and a possible successor to Abu Bakr Baghdadi, who has been killed. Following his arrest, the service said on Thursday that Qardash was in charge of manufacturing chemical weapons to attack Iraqi troops.
In January, The Guardian newspaper reported, citing intelligence sources, that Abdullah Qardash is the nom de guerre of Daesh founding member Amir Mohammed Abdul Rahman al-Mawli al-Salbi, who was appointed as the new Daesh leader in October 2019, several hours after Baghdadi was killed.
Baghdadi is claimed to have been killed as a result of a special operation by US Navy Seals in Syria's rebel-held province of Idlib.
*Daesh, also known as ISIS/IS/Islamic State, is a terrorist organisation banned in Russia and many other countries.
