Gunman (illustrative)
Gunman (illustrative)AFP file

The Iraqi army has killed an Al Qaeda-linked terror leader notorious for terrorizing drivers in western Iraq.

Shaker Wahib led a Sunni Muslim group which targeted Alawite and Shiite Muslims for death. The group also targeted Iraqi soldiers, and had kidnapped and murdered at least 16 soldiers.

In August, members of the terror group he led posted a video on YouTube in which they stopped random truck drivers along the main highway to Syria. The drivers were forced to undergo a test on Islam, including questions such as, “How many times must one bow during every prayer?”

Those who could not answer were murdered, and their trucks were burnt.  

Wahib was born in 1986. He studied for a degree in computer science, but did not graduate. In 2006 he was arrested by the United States army. Six years later, he managed to escape jail with help from Al-Qaeda members on the outside.

After fleeing prison he took command of a terror cell. He was sentenced to death in absentia for committing several kidnappings and murders.