Iraqi National Intelligence Service kills senior ISIS leader who planned to attack Europe

In late 2017, the terrorist group said to be defeated, but its cells continue to mount hit-and-run attacks

Peshmerga forces in 2016 set out on an operation against ISIS, south-east of Mosul, Iraq. EPA

Iraq's National Intelligence Service announced on Wednesday that it had killed a senior ISIS leader – who had reportedly planned a terrorist attack in Europe – in Syria’s rebel-held city of Idlib.

The statement identified the dead man as Khalid Ayed Ahmed Al Jabouri, nicknamed Yacoub Al Muhajir. He was lured to Idlib, the statement added. The statement did not mention how Iraqi security forces had managed to kill him in Idlib, nor whether they had co-operated with Syrian security forces.

He was the “most dangerous terrorist with Daesh”, it said. An arrest warrant was issued earlier by the Iraqi National Intelligence Service.

Al Jabouri was a member of Al Qaeda in Iraq before joining ISIS, in which he assumed senior positions such as the military official for areas in and outside the northern Iraqi province of Nineveh.

His latest position was the Wali of Turkry, another name for ruler or governor, where he planned an attack in Europe. The statement did not give more details on the planned attacks.

In mid-2014, ISIS overran large parts of Iraq and Syria, declaring a caliphate in the two neighbouring countries.

But Iraq, backed by a US-led international coalition, announced victory against ISIS in late 2017 after three years of fighting.

However, the terrorist group's cells continue to mount hit-and-run attacks, particularly in the vast desert regions of northern and western Iraq near the border with Syria.

Iraqi security forces have been launching almost daily air strikes or small-scale military operations against ISIS in remote areas.