While Israel is fighting its war on terror, another Middle Eastern country has dealt a significant blow to extremist forces.

On Tuesday night, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani announced that Islamic State Commander Jassim al-Mazroui Abu Abdul Qader was killed during an operation in the Hamrin Mountains of Salahuddin province along with eight other terrorists.

“There is no place for terrorists in Iraq, and we will pursue them to their hideouts and eliminate them,” al-Sudani said in a statement.

DNA tests are currently being conducted to confirm the identities of the other terrorists.

ISIS, which evolved from Al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Iraq, initially emerged following the 2003 U.S. invasion that overthrew President Saddam Hussein. They conducted numerous attacks against U.S. troops and Iraq’s Shiite Muslim community before rebranding themselves as ISIS under Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in 2010.

While the terror organization once controlled large portions of Iraq and Syria, it has since been largely defeated by local and international forces. Al-Baghdadi himself was killed during a U.S. raid in Syria in 2019.

Iraqi officials have long pushed for coalition forces to leave the country, with formal discussions about U.S. withdrawal spanning several months. Last month, the U.S. and Iraqi government finalized plans to end the American-led coalition’s mission against ISIS by next year. The agreement will see U.S. troops departing bases they’ve maintained during their two-decade presence in the country