A HEROIC double agent who managed to infiltrate ISIS and foil nearly 50 terror attacks is credited with saving hundreds of lives.

Captain Harith al-Sudani was a mole from Iraq's Falcon Intelligence Cell who made his way up to the highest ranks of Islamic State.

He posed as a jihadi, transporting bombs and is one of the country's greatest spies.

But instead of detonating the devices the dad-of-three would give them to his team to disable and then fake explosions and casualties.

Police even issued statements saying people had been killed or wounded to ensure ISIS leaders believed their attacks had worked.

Captain al-Sudani's dad Abid said: "He saved the lives of many people.

"Every operation was stopping the bloodshed of innocents."

During one of his last missions the terrorists had bugged his car.

It meant they heard his conversations with his team and after 16 months undercover he went on final mission in January 2017.

He was sent to a farmhouse north of Baghdad and never came out.

The intelligence agency's director, Abu Ali al-Basri, told The Daily Mail: "When Daesh [the Arabic name for IS] had some doubt about him, they provided him with a truck bomb. It was supposed to be blown up in a market area. Daesh planted a spying device in his car and they listened to his conversations."

During a rescue operation one Iraqi officer was killed but there was no sign of Captain al-Sudani who is believed to have been executed.

His wife, Raghad Chaloob, and their children did not learn of his secret life until after his death.

His 12-year-old son, Moamal, said: "We are very proud of him."