Iraqi police killed a prominent al-Qaeda leader and two of his aides Friday (August 10th) in the Rabia district near the Syrian border, Ninawa police said.

"A routine police patrol intercepted a vehicle carrying three individuals and asked them to pull over because of a suspicious vehicle load, prompting an exchange of gunfire," Ninawa police spokesperson Col. Khalid al-Hamdani told Al-Shorfa.

"Two policemen were killed in the clash, and the gunmen fled," al-Hamdani added. "However, one hour later, the security forces managed to attack them in the Rabia desert after a chase, killing Sheikh Nawas Obeid al-Taie, a Yemeni national, and two Iraqi aides after they refused to surrender."