Illustrative image.
On August 9, ISIS’s top leader in southern Syria, Abu Salem al-Iraqi, was killed in a confrontation with former rebels in the town of Adawan in the western countryside of Daraa.
After being cornered in his hideout inside the town, al-Iraqi detonated an explosive belt he was wearing killing himself as well as a former rebel and wounding a civilian he had taken as a hostage. It is still unclear how the prominent terrorist was located or how exactly the confrontation started.
The former rebels who carried out the raid in Adawan were among those who joined the general reconciliation agreement in Daraa in 2018.
Abu Salem al-Iraqi, via Twitter.
Abu Salem was reportedly ISIS’s leader in southern Damascus and was based in the Al Yarmouk Camp. After the liberation of the Palestinian refugee camp in 2018, the terrorist escaped to Daraa where he became the general leader of the entire southern region.
The terrorists reportedly ended up in Adawan a few days ago only after fleeing from the nearby town of Tafas, which is currently besieged by the Syrian Arab Army.
Over the last two years, ISIS expanded its activities in Daraa. The terrorist group’s cells carried out dozens of attacks against government forces, former rebels and civilians in different parts of the governorate. The most recent attack to be reported by the group targeted an alleged spy of the Syrian Air Force Intelligence Directorate in the town of al-Musayfrah in the eastern Daraa countryside on August 4.
While the elimination of Abu Salem was without a doubt a large blow to ISIS, it will not likely have much of an impact on the group’s operations in southern Syria.
