Top Islamic State leader killed in airstrike

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.