A large-scale inspection operation was launched from several fronts in the south of Nineveh Governorate, with the participation of the Nineveh Operations Command of the Popular Mobilization Forces, in addition to the Iraqi army units, with the aim of inspecting, clearing, and securing villages and hills in the south of Nineveh Governorate in northern Iraq.

"Based on accurate intelligence information and in coordination with the Counter-Terrorism Service in Sulaymaniyah Governorate, [the Iraqi intelligence agency] carried out a qualitative operation through which they subdued the threat of the terrorist, Abd Al-Khaliq Khazal Sultan, who joined ISIS in 2013," according to a statement by the Iraqi intelligence agency. 

"The terrorist Sultan participated in a number of operations that targeted the security forces in Salah Al-Din Governorate, and in the Speicher massacre, and he was one of the perpetrators of the massacre in 2014."

8 years have passed since the Tikrit Air Academy massacre, which is also known as the "#Speicher" massacre, where ISIS slaughtered between 1200 to 1,700 military cadets. #Iraq pic.twitter.com/BmKHf26ZoP

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) June 13, 2022

He also held a military position in the state of Tigris, then climbed up in the ranking of the terrorist organization to settle in the so-called "Nineveh state" where he waged battles against the security forces.

The operation took place after field tracking and follow-up of the target, as he was arrested, according to a judicial note, and duly referred to the competent authorities.

It is worth mentioning that, at the beginning of this year, an Iraqi court issued death sentences against 14 convicts for carrying out the Tikrit Air Academy massacre also known as the "Speicher" massacre in Salah Al-Din Governorate.

Read more: Iraq sentences 14 terrorists to death in relation to Speicher massacre

This massacre, which ISIS carried out on June 12, 2014, resulted in the murder of more than 1,700 students at the Air Force College at the Speicher military base in Tikrit, northern Iraq, according to official Iraqi data.

ISIS executed hundreds of unarmed Iraqi youths and brutally abused the corpses of some of them and photographed and published them with the aim of spreading terror across Iraq.