Islamic State’s second-in-command killed

The second-in-command for Islamic State reportedly killed was apparently a former intelligence official under Saddam Hussein. 

The second-in-command and deputy to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, head of the Islamic State (ISIS), was killed over the weekend in an airstrike carried out by the Iraqi air force on Friday, according to Iraqi state TV. The US led anti-ISIS coalition has yet to confirm the report.

“The air force’s planes executed with accuracy a strike on the headquarters of Daesh in al-Qaim … resulting in the killing of Daesh’s second-in-command…Ayad al-Jumaili, alias Abu Yahya, the war minister,” stated Iraqi state TV.

Ayad al-Jumaili was reportedly killed along with several other Islamic State commanders near the Syrian border, according to a military intelligence spokesman, who spoke to Reuters.

Iraqi State TV was the first to report on al-Jumaili’s death. He also worked as a top security official for the Islamic State and as an intelligence officer for former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, ousted in the 2003 US-led invasion.

The Iraqi government also said its army launched airstrikes against Islamic State outside besieged Mosul, killing more than 100 ISIS fighters.

The Iraqi Air Force and US-led international coalition forces have reclaimed large portions of eastern Mosul, the Islamic State’s last significant vestige of control in Iraq. The Iraqi army is trying to recapture the city’s west.

By: Jonathan Benedek, World Israel News

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