Baghdad, March 09: Iraqi security forces have arrested a senior militant leader with alleged links to the al-Qaeda-inspired Islamic State of Iraq network in the northern province of Nineveh.
The self-styled leader of the militant group, identified as Ibrahim Mohammad Ahmad al-Juburi, was caught on Tuesday in the city of Mosul, located some 400 kilometers (248 miles) northwest of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, after police authorities received a tip off on his whereabouts, an Iraqi army source told the Aswat al-Iraq news agency on condition of anonymity.
Security forces also discovered a large cache of weapons and explosive materials, including half a ton (1,000 pounds) of TNT.
The so-called “finance minister” of al-Qaeda in Iraq was wanted in connection with funneling funds to the terrorist group for a series of deadly terror attacks across Iraq.
Al-Qaeda in Iraq is a shadowy group that was reportedly originally led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi who was killed in June 2006.
According to US government and military officials, the group was then led by Ayyub al-Masri, who was killed along with Abu Omar al-Baghdadi — another leader of the group — in a joint Iraqi-US operation in Salahuddin province in April 2010.
Al-Qaeda in Iraq has been blamed for some of the deadliest terrorist attacks in the country since the US-led invasion of the country began in 2003.
—–Agencies