Iraq kills Islamic State's Anbar province chief, assistant in air strike

Iraq's air force killed the Islamic State (IS) group's chief in Anbar province by bombing the extremist's car, the Iraqi military said on Thursday.

The air strike occurred in the governorate's Al-Rutba District desert and took out Muthanna Khader Kamel Shatran, also known as Abu Malouka, according to Anadolu Agency.

"With unrelenting determination, our varied security units continue to hunt down the remnants and leaders of the terrorist gangs of ISIS," Iraq's Security Media Cell said.

The press office later said that the strike also killed an assistant to Abu Malouka named Abu Zaid Al-Mahlawi, who was IS military head in the Hit district.

Al-Mahlawi was responsible for the 2021 death of Iraq's Brigadier General Ahmed Abdul Wahed Al-Lami in Hit, it added.

The strike in Iraq comes after US troops killed IS's overall head, Abu Ibrahim Al-Hashimi Al-Qurashi, in neighbouring Syria earlier this month.

IS lost its so-called caliphate in 2019. Security forces in Iraq and Syria frequently conduct operations to root out what remains of the extremist group.