Iraqi security officials have announced that Abu Bakr-al-Baghdadi's likely deputy leader of the Islamic State terrorist group, was detained.

Police in the village of Hawija in Kirkuk province have detained a rebel named Abu Khaldoun in an apartment he was hiding in, according to a statement by the Iraqi security service, quoted by RIA Novosti.

"He was carrying a false identity card under the name of Shaalan Obeid. This criminal worked as a deputy under al-Baghdadi and was previously the so-called military prince of the province of Salah al-Din.", the report said.

Trump announced the elimination of al-Baghdadi as a result of an operation by US special forces in Idlib province in Syria in October. He thanked Russia, Turkey, Syria and Iraq for their help in the assassination of Baghdad. Later, an official spokesman for the Russian Ministry of Defense, Igor Konashenkov, said that Russia did not have reliable information that the US military had carried out an operation to eliminate Al Baghdadi. An Islamist-linked website reported that the ID has confirmed the liquidation of its leader.

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