Baghdad, March 15 (IANS) A prominent Iraqi Shia militia leader was killed in the battle to free the city of Tikrit, capital of Salahudin province, from the Islamic State (IS) militants, a security source said on Sunday.
Commander of Imam Ali Brigades Ali al-Mosawi, also known as Abu al-Hasanien, was killed on Saturday night in battles between his militiamen and the IS militants in Tikrit, some 170 km north of Baghdad, Xinhua reported citing the source.
Al-Mosawi was a member of the National Assembly of Iraq formed in 2005.
His Imam Ali Brigades is part of the government-backed Hashid Shaabi paramilitary groups.
Some 30,000 Iraqi troops and government-backed Shia and Sunni militias have been carrying out an offensive against the IS militants since Tuesday to free Tikrit.
Large parts of Salahudin province have been under IS control since June 2014, after bloody clashes broke out between Iraqi security forces and the group.