The head of the Ramadi Awakening Council was killed Tuesday in a suicide bombing in Iraq 's Anbar province , police officials told CNN . Mohammed Khamis Abu Risha was on a joint patrol with Awakening Council members and Iraqi security forces when he was killed by a suicide bomber , the officials said . At least four others were also killed in the blast , they said . Abu Risha has been among those leading the fight in Ramadi against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria , a rogue al Qaeda group know by the acronym ISIS . There was no immediate claim of responsibility . But ISIS has claimed to have carried out several failed assassination attempts against him in recent months . Abu Risha is the nephew of Sheikh Ahmed Abu Risha , head of the Anbar Awakening Council -- a group composed primarily of Sunni Arab fighters who turned on al Qaeda in Iraq in late 2006 and joined forces with the U.S.-led coalition . The sheikh took over as head of the province 's Awakening Council after his brother Sheikh Abdul Sattar was assassinated in 2007 . While a number of the members of the council , also known as the Sons of Iraq , have been integrated into Iraq 's security forces , the sheikh has said he maintains a militia of about 80,000 . Iraq 's government has put the number at 50,000 , according to published reports .
Mohammed Khamis Abu Risha was head of the Ramadi Awakening Council . He was on patrol with Iraqi security forces in Ramadi when he was killed . He is the nephew of Mohammed Ahmed Abu Risha , head of the Iraqi Awakening Council .