Kataib Hezbollah, the pro-Iranian terrorist group operating in Iraq, on Monday announced that its senior commander and security spokesperson, Abu Ali al-Askari, had been killed, AFP reported.
The group's leader Ahmad al-Hamidawi, also known as Abu Hussein al-Hamidawi, said on Monday that "we announce the martyrdom of Haj Abu Ali al-Askari". He did not provide any details on how and when Askari was killed.
A security official told AFP that "Abu Ali al-Askari is Abu Ali al-Amiri, the commander who was killed in a strike on Baghdad on Saturday."
Kataib Hezbollah was responsible for kidnapping Israeli researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov and holding her captive for two and a half years. Tsurkov was released this past September following US pressure and with the assistance of Iraqi security services.
Commenting on Monday on al-Askari’s death, Tsurkov revealed that he had been personally involved in keeping her captive.
In a post on social media, Tsurkov wrote that al-Askari “was personally involved in keeping me captive and spreading hilarious lies about me, even after my release."
She further claimed that al-Askari “was killed by the United States for KH's targeting of US interests in Iraq and neighboring countries. KH also killed hundreds of American servicemen. But most of the blood this man had on his hands was that of Arabs: Iraqis and Syrians."