Five ISIS Members Killed in Iraqi Airstrike in Kirkuk  

Iraqi security forces search for ISIS terrorists in June. (AFP)
Iraqi security forces search for ISIS terrorists in June. (AFP)
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Five ISIS Members Killed in Iraqi Airstrike in Kirkuk  

Iraqi security forces search for ISIS terrorists in June. (AFP)
Iraqi security forces search for ISIS terrorists in June. (AFP)

Five ISIS terrorists were killed during a swift air raid in Kirkuk (250 kilometers north of Baghdad), revealed an Iraqi military statement on Tuesday.

Additionally, two other individuals were apprehended in the same city through a well-executed ambush, the statement added.

“The intelligence personnel of the Counter-Terrorism Bureau have, after relentless efforts, successfully identified the group responsible for the terrorist attack that targeted a military convoy on the road connecting the Mullah Abdullah and Riyad districts in Kirkuk,” continued the statement.

The terrorist attack had resulted in the death and injury of several Iraqi security forces.

“In a daring raid, we successfully crushed five members of the terrorist group, seizing their weapons and equipment to serve as a lesson to the remnants of ISIS,” continued the statement.

“Our operations target the remnants of the terrorist gangs of ISIS, employing tactics that align with the nature and methods of the threat,” it affirmed.

In a related development, the Federal Intelligence and Investigation Agency of the Ministry of Interior announced on Tuesday the arrest of “two terrorists” who were operating within the so-called “Diwan of Soldiers and Islamic Police” in Kirkuk.

“Based on accurate intelligence, the agency’s units in Kirkuk province successfully apprehended two wanted individuals” according to the Anti-Terrorism Law, read a statement by the Agency.

The arrest happened after “tracking and luring the outlaws into a well-planned ambush,” with the suspects confessing to their affiliation to ISIS as part of the so-called “Diwan of Soldiers and Islamic Police.”

They admitted to receiving training and financial support in exchange for carrying out terrorist activities.

The suspects also confessed to “participating in combat operations against the security forces, notably in the liberation battles and the battles in Qat Alas, Al-Ajeel, and Al-Ajilat.”

The statement indicated that “their confessions were documented, and they were referred to the relevant authorities to receive just punishment.”



Close Aide of Syria President Dies after Car Crash

Luna al-Shibl, a member of the Syrian government delegation arrives to meet UN-Arab League envoy for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi on January 24, 2014 at the "Geneva II" peace talks in Geneva. (AFP)
Luna al-Shibl, a member of the Syrian government delegation arrives to meet UN-Arab League envoy for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi on January 24, 2014 at the "Geneva II" peace talks in Geneva. (AFP)
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Close Aide of Syria President Dies after Car Crash

Luna al-Shibl, a member of the Syrian government delegation arrives to meet UN-Arab League envoy for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi on January 24, 2014 at the "Geneva II" peace talks in Geneva. (AFP)
Luna al-Shibl, a member of the Syrian government delegation arrives to meet UN-Arab League envoy for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi on January 24, 2014 at the "Geneva II" peace talks in Geneva. (AFP)

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's media adviser Luna al-Shibl died on Friday three days after being injured in a car crash, Assad's office announced.

"The presidency of the Syrian Arab Republic mourns the death of the adviser Luna al-Shibl, who passed away today after a serious car accident", it said in a statement.

"She served in recent years as a director of the political and media office of the presidency and then as a special adviser to the presidency," it added.

State media reported on Tuesday that she had suffered a "cerebral hemorrhage" which required emergency surgery after her car "veered off the road".

The 48-year-old rose to prominence for quitting a prestigious journalism career at Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera to become Assad's media adviser at a time when Damascus was cracking down on peaceful protesters in 2011, triggering Syria's ongoing civil war.

But her role expanded well beyond communications, carving out a place within Assad's inner circle as she accompanied him to high-level meetings in Syria and on his rare visits abroad.

She played an important role during the most intense years of the war and was part of the delegation to ultimately doomed peace talks in 2014.

Britain-based war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, reported earlier this week that she had fallen out of official favor in recent months and her brother had been arrested.

"There was growing dissatisfaction with her within the regime," said Observatory director Rami Abdulrahman.

"Accusations surfaced that she leaked minutes of closed meetings between Assad and Iranian officials," Abdulrahman added.

Syrian intelligence arrested her brother "on charges of communicating with a party hostile to Syria" after Israel struck the Iranian consulate in Damascus in April, the monitor said.

In 2020, Washington sanctioned Shibl and her husband Ammar Saati, with the US Treasury saying at the time that "she has been instrumental in developing Assad's false narrative that he maintains control of the country and that the Syrian people flourish under his leadership".