Carter: 'We are systemically eliminating' Islamic State's cabinet

The U.S.-led coalition killed a major Islamic State commander this month, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Friday, adding that the coalition is “systemically eliminating ISIL’s cabinet.”

Carter said Haji Imam was killed in an operation by coalition forces. Imam “was an ISIL leader, senior leader, serving as a finance minister and who also is responsible for some external affairs and plots. He was a well-known terrorist within ISIL’s ranks, dating back to its earliest iteration as Al Qaeda in Iraq,” Carter said. “He worked under [Abu Musab al] Zarqawi as its liaison for operations with Pakistan. The removal of this ISIL leader will hamper the organization’s ability to conduct operations both inside and outside of Iraq and Syria.”