Iraqi officials report government troops have killed Saddam deputy

Iraqi forces have killed Ezzat Ibrahim al-Douri, the former deputy of Saddam Hussein, government officials reported to The Associated Press on Friday.

Al-Douri has been declared dead or captured before, but Reuters notes that Iraqi officials released images of a body with red hair like al-Douri's, and said they have begun DNA tests to confirm the death. Officials said they believe al-Douri was killed during a joint operation between Iraqi troops and Shiite militias near Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, which Iraq took back from Islamic State militants earlier in April.

Depicted as the "king of clubs" in a U.S.-issued deck of playing cards used to help troops identify key regime fugitives, al-Douri helped the Baath party plot its 1968 coup, and then served as vice president to Hussein until the U.S.-led invasion that toppled the regime, in 2003.

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