A top leader of the Islamic State has been killed.
Abdul Rahman Mustafa Mohammed, also known as Abu Alaa al-Afari, was holding a meeting at a mosque near Tal Afar in northern Iraq when he was killed in a U.S.-led coalition airstrike, according to the Iraqi Ministry of Defense.
Afari was the second-in-command of the Islamic State, though unconfirmed reports had surfaced in recent weeks that he had taken temporary charge of of the terror group’s operations.
Neither the United States military nor Islamic State media have confirmed the death of Afari.
According to Iraq’s defense ministry, the strike was a result of “accurate intelligence” and an “unknown number” of Islamic State militants had also been killed.
