A fugitive Iraqi militant leader and the former right-hand man of Saddam Hussein has reportedly been killed in a skirmish . Iraqi officials said Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri had died in fighting with government troops in Salahuddin province , north of Baghdad . Al-Douri , 72 , headed the Naqshbandi Order insurgent group , an important faction behind the recent rise of ISIS . Scroll down for video . Al-Douri was an Iraqi military commander and was Vice Chairman of the Iraqi Revolutionary Command Council , until the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq . Al-Douri was the King of Clubs in the famous pack of cards the US issued of wanted members of Saddam 's regime after its collapse . He was one of Saddam 's most trusted henchmen , helping to lead his 1968 bloodless coup . Both Al-Douri and Saddam came from the same Tikriti tribal background . He was then deputy to Saddam when he was deposed following the invasion of Iraq in 2003 . Following the execution of Saddam Hussein on 30 December , 2006 , Al-Douri was confirmed as the new leader of the banned Ba'ath Party . Al-Douri was deemed the most high-profile official of Saddam 's Ba'ath Party to evade capture after the invasion . He was ranked sixth on the US military 's list of the 55 most-wanted Iraqis after offensive to overthrow Saddam and had a $ 10m bounty on his head . He was the King of Clubs in the infamous pack of cards the US issued of wanted members of Saddam 's regime after its collapse . His dead body was pictured on social media today with his teeth missing , an unkempt orange beard and a bloody head wound . Salahuddin governor Raed al-Jabouri said soldiers and allied Shia militiamen killed him in an operation east of Tikrit - a city that was recaptured by the government two weeks ago . He said : 'This is a major victory for those involved in the operation . He is considered a mastermind for this terrorist group . 'For sure this will have an impact on them ... there will be a break among them . ' ISIS currently controls a swath of land slightly larger than the UK , from Aleppo to central Iraq . However , in recent months Iraqi forces , supported by US-led air strikes , have captured large areas from the terrorist group . But today , a car bomb killed three people outside the U.S. consulate in Erbil , the capital of Iraq 's Kurdistan region that is allied with Washington in a war against Islamic State , which claimed the attack . No U.S. personnel were hurt in the blast , according to the State Department which said a 'vehicle-borne improvised explosive device ' exploded right outside the entrance to the heavily fortified compound . Islamic State also claimed responsibility for two car . bombings in Baghdad that killed at least 27 people on . Friday . 'The fighters of the Islamic State detonated two car bombs . in the heart of the Iraqi capital this evening and a third in . Erbil , ' the group said via its news agency . Such attacks are relatively rare in Kurdistan , which has . managed to insulate itself from the worst of the violence . afflicting the rest of Iraq . A car bomb killed three people outside the U.S. consulate in Erbil , the capital of Iraq 's Kurdistan region , today . Kurdish security forces respond to an explosion at the pedestrian entrance to the U.S. Consulate complex . In the invasion of Iraq by a US-led coalition , the military developed a set of playing cards to help troops identify the most-wanted members of Saddam 's regime . This was mostly high-ranking members of the Iraqi Regional Branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party or members of the Revolutionary Command Council . The cards were officially named the 'personality identification playing cards ' . Each card contained the wanted person 's address and , if available , the job they carried out . The highest-ranking cards , starting with the aces and kings , were used for the people at the top of the most-wanted list . Al-Douri was the King of Clubs in the pack of cards .
Iraqi officials say Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri , today , has died in fighting in Tikrit . He was one of Saddam Hussein 's most trusted henchmen in Ba'ath Party . Was one of the most high-profile officials to evade capture after invasion . Had a $ 10m bounty on his head and was one of the US 's most wanted men .