<p>Iraq's premier announced Thursday the military had killed a man identified as the top Islamic State group figure in the country, a week after an IS attack in Baghdad killed more than 30 people.</p>.<p>Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi said IS's Iraq "wali", or governor, Abu Yasser al-Issawi, was killed in an "intelligence-led operation" by Iraqi security forces.</p>.<p>"We promised and fulfilled. I gave my word to pursue Daesh (IS) terrorists, we gave them a thundering response," Kadhemi wrote on Twitter.</p>.<p>Iraq declared IS territorially defeated in late 2017 after a three-year fight aided by US-led coalition air strikes and military advisors.</p>.<p>Since then, IS attacks in urban areas have dramatically dropped, but Iraqi troops have continued to battle sleeper cells in the country's mountainous and desert areas.</p>.<p>Issawi, born Jabbar al-Issawi in Iraq's western region of Fallujah, had been identified last year by top jihadism experts as the country's most senior IS official.</p>.<p>He rose to that rank after fighting with the jihadist faction in both Iraq and neighbouring Syria, senior security sources told AFP.</p>.<p>Issawi was killed on Wednesday in a remote swathe of Iraq's northern Kirkuk province in an operation backed by the US-led coalition, the sources added.</p>.<p>"The coalition carried out five air raids, killing at least 10 jihadists," one of the sources said.</p>.<p>A coalition spokesman did not immediately respond to AFP's request for comment.</p>.<p>The coalition has continued to provide training, surveillance and air support but has drawn down its numbers as Iraqi forces take the lead on operations.</p>.<p>On January 21, two suicide bombers targeted a packed open-air market in Baghdad, killing at least 32 people and wounding more than 100 others.</p>.<p>The attack was later claimed by IS.</p>.<p>Iraqi and Western military sources described "gaps" in the security infrastructure that may have been exploited by the attackers.200</p>
<p>Iraq's premier announced Thursday the military had killed a man identified as the top Islamic State group figure in the country, a week after an IS attack in Baghdad killed more than 30 people.</p>.<p>Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi said IS's Iraq "wali", or governor, Abu Yasser al-Issawi, was killed in an "intelligence-led operation" by Iraqi security forces.</p>.<p>"We promised and fulfilled. I gave my word to pursue Daesh (IS) terrorists, we gave them a thundering response," Kadhemi wrote on Twitter.</p>.<p>Iraq declared IS territorially defeated in late 2017 after a three-year fight aided by US-led coalition air strikes and military advisors.</p>.<p>Since then, IS attacks in urban areas have dramatically dropped, but Iraqi troops have continued to battle sleeper cells in the country's mountainous and desert areas.</p>.<p>Issawi, born Jabbar al-Issawi in Iraq's western region of Fallujah, had been identified last year by top jihadism experts as the country's most senior IS official.</p>.<p>He rose to that rank after fighting with the jihadist faction in both Iraq and neighbouring Syria, senior security sources told AFP.</p>.<p>Issawi was killed on Wednesday in a remote swathe of Iraq's northern Kirkuk province in an operation backed by the US-led coalition, the sources added.</p>.<p>"The coalition carried out five air raids, killing at least 10 jihadists," one of the sources said.</p>.<p>A coalition spokesman did not immediately respond to AFP's request for comment.</p>.<p>The coalition has continued to provide training, surveillance and air support but has drawn down its numbers as Iraqi forces take the lead on operations.</p>.<p>On January 21, two suicide bombers targeted a packed open-air market in Baghdad, killing at least 32 people and wounding more than 100 others.</p>.<p>The attack was later claimed by IS.</p>.<p>Iraqi and Western military sources described "gaps" in the security infrastructure that may have been exploited by the attackers.200</p>