https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqmEH50yYqI
Abu Tahseen should be enjoying his retirement. Instead, he’s single-handedly striking fear into the heart of the Islamic State.
The 63-year-old Tahseen, an Iraqi veteran of five wars, picked up his sniper rifle after ISIS terrorists first started sweeping across northern Iraq in 2014. An expert marksman, Tahseen claims to have killed more than 173 fighters in May of 2015.
The video above, uploaded by YouTube channel Sky99, shows Tahseen in action against ISIS terrorists in Iraq.
While that’s a drop in the bucket compared to the thousands of ISIS fighters the U.S.-led coalition has killed as the group has spread across Iraq and Syria, it’s an impressive body count for a single sniper — especially one as driven by duty.
According to American Military News, Tahseen is a member of the Hashd al-Shaabi, a term used to denote militia groups who mobilized during the start of the Islamic State’s 2014 invasion.
These forces maintain a “semi-official relationship” with the Iraqi military, which means they’re basically guerrilla warriors who are standing up to ISIS in defense of their homes.
The war on ISIS may be forcing the terrorist groups into what seems like a permanent retreat, but devoted soldiers like Tahseen aren’t planning on slowing down.
“I’m relaxed, my mind is relaxed,” says Tahseen in the video above. “Last time they gave me a month off and after 12 days I came back.”