Top aide to Saddam Hussein killed in Northern Iraq, officials say
Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, second in command under Saddam Hussein, was reported killed by government troops, Iraqi officials said
Iraqi officials said on Friday they believe that government forces killed Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, the former deputy of Saddam Hussein who for over a decade was the top fugitive from the ousted regime and became an underground figure involved in Sunni insurgencies, most recently allying with Islamic State militants.
It was not the first time Iraqi officials have claimed to have killed or captured al-Douri and DNA tests were underway to confirm whether a body recovered from fighting around the city of Tikrit was his.
Reports of al-Douri’s death came as Iraqi forces were trying to push back Islamic State group fighters in Salahuddin province, where Tikrit is located. Government troops took back several towns near the country’s largest oil refinery at Beiji in the province, officials said.
Further north, a large car bomb exploded on Friday afternoon next to the US consulate in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil, a rare attack in the capital of the Kurdish autonomy zone. A reporter at the scene said the powerful blast went off outside a cafe next to the building, setting several nearby cars ablaze.
There was no immediate word on casualties. A US official said no consulate personnel or guards were killed or injured in Friday’s blast. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to the press.
