Iraqi Forces Kill ‘ISIS Slaughterer’ in Anbar Desert

Iraqi forces in the Anbar province in September 2017. (AFP)
Iraqi forces in the Anbar province in September 2017. (AFP)
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Iraqi Forces Kill ‘ISIS Slaughterer’ in Anbar Desert

Iraqi forces in the Anbar province in September 2017. (AFP)
Iraqi forces in the Anbar province in September 2017. (AFP)

Iraqi forces announced on Sunday that they killed Abou Taha al-Tunsi, also known as the “ISIS Slaughterer,” one of the terror group’s most notorious members.

The terrorist and nine of his companions were killed in a security operation in Iraq’s Anbar province, revealed intelligence sources.

The operation was initially launched after information was received that the terrorists were in the area and they were preparing to carry out attacks against security forces, they added.

The forces discovered during their raid secret tunnels that the group was using in the Anbar desert. There, they confiscated weapons, narcotic pills and liquor.

The operation in Anbar is part of a larger operation the armed forces are carrying out in the desert, where hundreds of ISIS members are still located.

Head of the Iraq Sahwa Conference Sheikh Ahmed Abou Risha told Asharq Al-Awsat that in wake of battles to liberate areas that were seized by ISIS in 2014, the terrorists chose to flee instead of fighting the incoming forces.

They consequently fled to the desert, he explained, where they remain.

“ISIS used to fiercely fight in regions it could not escape from,” he added.

The Anbar desert is vast and it still feeds several other regions with ISIS cells that are carrying out various attacks using new methods, such as ambushes, said Abou Risha.

Iraqi security expert Abou Fadel Raghif told Asharq Al-Awsat that regardless of Abou Taha al-Tunsi’s death, “the truth is clear that 95 percent of the major ISIS leaderships have not engaged in battle, but chose to hide in various regions, including beyond Iraq.”

“None of these figures have been arrested,” he stressed.



Hamas Says Delegation Leaving Doha after Gaza Ceasefire Talks Breakdown

Palestinians gather at the site of an overnight Israeli air strike on a house, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, July 28, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed/File Photo
Palestinians gather at the site of an overnight Israeli air strike on a house, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, July 28, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed/File Photo
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Hamas Says Delegation Leaving Doha after Gaza Ceasefire Talks Breakdown

Palestinians gather at the site of an overnight Israeli air strike on a house, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, July 28, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed/File Photo
Palestinians gather at the site of an overnight Israeli air strike on a house, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, July 28, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed/File Photo

Hamas's negotiating team left the Qatari capital Doha for Türkiye on Tuesday to discuss the "latest developments" in the stalled Gaza ceasefire talks, a Hamas official told AFP.

"A high-level leadership delegation from Hamas, headed by Mohammed Darwish, president of the movement's leadership council, and including the negotiation team and its head, Khalil al-Hayya, is departing Doha heading to Istanbul", the source told AFP.

"The delegation will hold several meetings with Turkish officials regarding the latest developments in the ceasefire negotiations, which stalled last week", the source added.

For over two weeks, mediators in Qatar had been shuttling between Israeli and Hamas delegations in a bid to secure a breakthrough in indirect talks for a ceasefire and the release of hostages held in Gaza, nearly two years into the war.

The United States joined Israel last week in pulling its negotiators from the negotiations, with US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff blaming the Palestinian militant group for the failure to reach a deal and saying Washington would "consider alternative options".

Hamas politburo member Bassem Naim told AFP on Friday that the latest discussions focused on details of an Israeli military withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

Israel has resisted international calls to agree a ceasefire in Gaza, with UN-backed experts warning on Tuesday that the Palestinian territory was slipping into famine.

Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar called the ceasefire demands "a distorted campaign of international pressure against Israel" that would leave Hamas in power in Gaza.

"It ain't gonna happen, no matter how much pressure is put on Israel", he said at a press conference Tuesday.