An SAS sniper killed an ISIS terrorist from almost 2.4km away using a mega-powerful rifle. Photo / Getty Images
An SAS sniper killed an ISIS terrorist from almost 2.4km away using a mega-powerful rifle. Photo / Getty Images
An SAS sniper is said to have shot dead an ISIS jihadi from 2.4km away using the world's most powerful rifle.
It took three whole seconds for the bullet to reach its target - the throat of an Islamic State terrorist in the Iraqi city of Mosul.
The British marksman was using a CheyTac M200 Intervention gun which is produced in South Carolina and retails at $13,800 (NZ$19,700) and can vaporise a person's organs from 2.5km, according to the Daily Mail.
As the terrorist was leaving a burned-out building two weeks ago, the SAS gunman is said to have pulled the trigger, registering one of the most difficult kills in the regiment's history.
Widely regarded as the most powerful rifle on the planet in its class, it has a working range of up to 3km and holds the record for the world's longest shot.
The soldier is said to have only taken a single shot to take down his man, living up to the gun manufacturer CheyTac's motto of "Make every shot count".
A source told The Star on Sunday: "It was a classic counter-sniper operation. The ISIS gunman was moving all the time to get into the best position to get a kill.
"It was like a game of cat-and-mouse and at one point the SAS almost gave up, believing that the terrorist had gone to ground.
"Just as the light was beginning to fade the gunman moved into what he thought was a safe location and lifted his rifle up into his shoulder before the SAS shot him dead."
The militant he killed was himself a sniper, using a Russian Dragunov gun and the British soldier had seen him gun down and wound several of his comrades.
His tactic would be to shoot, lay low for an hour, and open fire again.
It comes as the Iraq's special forces declared their mission in Mosul complete on Saturday after the group retook the last western districts from the Islamic State group within their area of operation, according to a military spokesman.
The CheyTac M200 rifle. Photo / Cheytac.com
The announcement came despite ongoing battles in a handful of western Mosul neighbourhoods that continue to force hundreds of civilians to flee each day.
ISIS still controls some areas of western Mosul, including the dense Old City where some of the toughest battles are expected to play out.
Special forces spokesman Sabah al-Numan said his troops had completed their initial mission, but stood ready "to support any other forces if we are ordered to by the prime minister".
Elsewhere in central and southern Iraq, a series of bombings killed at least 27 people.
A suicide bombing Saturday near the oil-rich city of Basra killed at least eight people and wounded 41 others, according to a military commander.
Five civilians and three troops were killed when the bomber blew up his explosives-laden car on Friday at a checkpoint north of Basra just behind a bus waiting to be cleared, said chief of the Basra Operations Command, Lieutenant General Jamil al-Shimmari.
A second attacker drove down a desert road after the explosion and security forces killed him, Lt Gen al-Shimmari added.
In an online statement, IS claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it targeted Shiites.
Basra, about 340 miles south east of Baghdad, is home to about 70 per cent of the country's proven oil reserves of 153.1 billion barrels.
Located on the Persian Gulf and bordering Kuwait and Iran, the city is also Iraq's only outlet to the sea and the hub for most of the country's oil exports, with 3.23 million barrels exported from Basra last month.
ISIS also claimed responsibility for the double suicide bombings in Baghdad overnight that killed at least 19 people and wounded 33, according to an online statement.
Iraqi forces, backed by the US-led coalition, officially launched the operation to retake Mosul in October and the city's east was declared "fully liberated" in January.
The fight for Mosul's west was launched the following month and has been marked by some of the most gruelling and deadly combat in the fight against IS in Iraq to date.
