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2 Senior ISIS Members Killed in Iraqi Strikes on Hamrin Mountains

The Iraqi military during a past operation against ISIS. (INA)
The Iraqi military during a past operation against ISIS. (INA)
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2 Senior ISIS Members Killed in Iraqi Strikes on Hamrin Mountains

The Iraqi military during a past operation against ISIS. (INA)
The Iraqi military during a past operation against ISIS. (INA)

Two senior ISIS commanders were killed in an Iraqi air strike in the Hamrin Mountain range, in the Salah al-Din province, announced the Iraqi Security Media Cell (SMC) on Saturday.

The operation was carried out based on intelligence information provided by the Federal Intelligence and Investigation Agency (FIIA) at the Ministry of Interior to the Iraqi Air Force.

ISIS hideouts were destroyed in the operation.

Terrorists Mohammed Rashid Jassim, known as Abu Hudhaifa, and Abu Fatima Askari, were killed in the attack.

The statement said Abu Fatima is the commander of ISIS in the Salah al-Din province. He was considered to be one of the most dangerous terrorists for his operations against security forces and civilians in recent years.

In a related development, the SMC announced the killing of four terrorists on the banks of Hamrin Lake in the Diyala province.

Three of the terrorists were killed in two air strikes while the fourth was killed during clashes with security forces.

The forces also destroyed three motorcycles, a number of explosive devices, explosive material, and two terrorist hideouts.

Asked whether ISIS was still a threat in Iraq, head of the Center for Strategic Studies Dr. Moataz Mohieddin told Asharq Al-Awsat the organization suffered setbacks with the killing of its leaders Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and Abu Ibrahim al-Quraishi.

It has since plunged into chaos. None of the ensuing leaders enjoyed the same leadership skills as the slain ones, he added.

The majority of the militants have sought refuge in mountains and caves to hide from operations carried out by Iraqi security forces, which are backed up by US intelligence and Turkish forces, he added.

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Palestinians Receptive to Lebanon’s Call to Limit Possession of Weapons in Refugee Camps

The Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee meets at the government headquarters. (Dialogue committee)
The Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee meets at the government headquarters. (Dialogue committee)
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Palestinians Receptive to Lebanon’s Call to Limit Possession of Weapons in Refugee Camps

The Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee meets at the government headquarters. (Dialogue committee)
The Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee meets at the government headquarters. (Dialogue committee)

Lebanon has started to exert serious efforts to restrict the possession of weapons inside Palestinian refugee camps in the country in line with President Joseph Aoun’s inaugural speech.

The president had demanded that the possession of weapons in the country and the camps be limited to the state.

The Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee met at the government headquarters in Beirut three days ago to discuss the issue.

All Palestinian factions attended the meeting, and the gatherers agreed to “completely” resolve the Palestinian possession of arms outside the camps. They also agreed to outline how to restrict weapons inside the camps in line with the president’s speech.

The Lebanese state has yet to come up with the mechanism to confiscate the weapons inside the camps.

A Lebanese security source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the arms will be tackled through a political approach drawn up by the government. “It will be carried out by the army with the security agencies and in coordination with the Palestinian factions in the camp, led by the Fatah movement, which is the official representative of the Palestinian people,” it added.

The Palestinians have expressed their “complete understanding” of the issue, it remarked.

The laying down of weapons by Palestinian factions is a step towards all illegal weapons throughout the country being turned over to the Lebanese state, it went on to say.

“There are no longer any excuses for weapons to remain in possession of any organization,” stressed the source.

Lebanese groups will be demanded to lay down their arms after the Palestinian ones do, it added.

In a first, the Palestinian factions have been very receptive to a Lebanese head of state’s demand to cooperate in limiting the possession of weapons in the refugee camps.

Member of the Palestinian National and Central Councils Haitham Zaiter said that the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) recognizes that the camps are part of Lebanese territories, so they come under the authority of the state and its laws.

He told Asharq Al-Awsat that “complete coordination” is ongoing between the Lebanese security agencies and PLO inside the camps where several wanted Lebanese and Palestinian suspects and others from other nationalities have been turned over to the authorities.

The suspects had sought refuge in the camps to avoid justice in the crimes they have committed, he acknowledged.

“The PLO is the sole representative of the Palestinian people inside Palestine and in the diaspora,” he stated.

Moreover, Zaiter explained that Palestinian weapons in Lebanon are either carried by the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command (PFLP-GC) outside the camps or by non-partisan individuals inside the camps.

The PFLP-GC laid down its weapons as soon as the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad collapsed in December.

Heavy weapons inside the camps had been previously brought in with the aim to undermine the PLO, he added.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas “has constantly called for coordination with Lebanese authorities to limit the possession of these weapons,” Zaiter said.