Thursday, March 28, 2024

Baghdad

Cameraman from Baghdadi’s landmark ISIS inception sermon killed in Mosul

 Cameraman from Baghdadi’s landmark ISIS inception sermon killed in Mosul

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. File Photo.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. File Photo.

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) The cameraman who filmed Islamic State’s leader declaring the establishment of the group’s rule in Iraq and Syria was killed Thursday in an airstrike west of Mosul, sources said.

The extremist group’s member who made the video footage of the historic 2014 sermon in al-Nuri mosque in western Mosul, which saw Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declaring the inception of an “Islamic Caliphate” in Iraq and Syria, was killed in an airstrike on Wadi Akab, Alsumaria News quoted local sources as saying.

Iraqi reports about IS leaders’ deaths have on many occasions come from unnamed sources, and the group rarely admits serious losses on the battlefield through its media outlets.

The source, citing preliminary information, told the network that the cameraman was a Syrian national nicknamed “Abu Huthaifaq al-Halabi”.

Earlier on Thursday, Reuters reported airstrikes destroying Omar al-Aswad mosque, an IS-held spot that was located near the mosque where Baghdadi delivered his sermon.

Iraqi government forces launched a major campaign last month to retake western Mosul from IS militants, having recaptured the eastern side late January after three months of fighting.

Iraqi and coalition commanders have highlighted faster collapses in IS defenses in western Mosul, with the group’s combat and finance resources wearing out.

Leave a Reply