US forces have reportedly captured senior ISIS military leader Abu Obama al-Shishani in Kirkuk, Iraq.
BREAKING: Reports coming thru of #US special forces having captured senior #ISIS militant al-Shishani alive in #Iraq pic.twitter.com/NVW5NFRayb
— Israel News Flash (@ILNewsFlash) December 27, 2015
This would be a big blow to the Islamic State and follows news that Ramadi has been “liberated” by Iraqi-Iranian forces.
The IBTimes reported:
Senior Islamic State (Isis) commander Abu Omar al-Shishani has been arrested in the Iraqi city of Kirkuk, according to Russian media reports. The ethnic Chechen jihadist, born Tarkhan Tayumurazovich Batirashvili in Georgia is more commonly known as his nom de guerre Abu Omar al-Shishani.
Russian media has stated that al-Shishani, a former Georgian military sergeant, was captured along with two other militants yesterday (27 December). He was said to have been captured by US forces but this has been denied by US officials.
Known for his signature red beard he is a veteran of the 2008 Russo-Georgian War and has risen up the ranks of Daesh (Isis) after previously being the leader of a rebel group of foreign fighters known as Katibat al-Muhajireen (Emigrants Brigade), also known as the Muhajireen Brigade, which is battling Bashar al-Assad’s troops in northern Syria. Al-Shishani has been subject to several false alarms about his death or capture since 2014, with Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov declaring him dead in November 2014.
Al-Shishani was once the leader of the Jaish al-Muhajireen wal Ansar in Syria before joining IS.
