One of the Islamic State jihadist group's most notorious executioners, Abu Sayyaf was killed in an ambush in northern Iraq, local news site ARA News reported on Monday.
Abu Sayyaf died when gunmen attacked his car in the Dawassah district west of the city of Mosul in Nineveh province late on Sunday, ARA News said, quoting local media activist Abdullah al-Mallah.
The burly militant had beheaded hundreds of people on camera and was one of IS's main executioners. He also appeared in several gruesome propaganda videos showing brutal IS killings.
“Abu Sayyaf was one of the scariest executioners in Nineveh. He was known for his huge body and heavy arms, said Iraqi journalist Muhammad Yawar, who also confirmed the jihadist's assassination.
“Abu Sayyaf was a reflection of the brutality of this terrorist group,” Yawar said.
IS's al-Hisbah police force was unable to identify the gunmen who killed Abu Sayyaf and another IS militant during the ambush, according to al-Mallah.
Another feared IS executioner was killed by an unknown gunman in western Mosul last week. Abu Abdel Rahman, a Saudi IS leader, was in charge of executing women for the terror group and is thought to have used meat cleavers to butcher them.
Western and northern Mosul are now the new battlefields for Iraqi government forces, who with the help of the US-led coalition forces this month liberated the eastern half of Mosul from IS.
Around 350,000 children - half of the 750,000 civilians trapped in siege-like conditions in west Mosul - risk execution under IS in the next stage of conflict, the Save the Children charity and aid agencies warned last week.
