America says it has killed a deputy leader of Islamic State, Fadhil Ahmad al-Hayali, in a military strike in northern Iraq.
Hayali, also known as Hajji Mutazz, believed to be the second in command of the dreaded Islamic State, which has gained significant foothold in the country lately.
According to the US officials, Hayali was killed in an attack on his car in Mosul on Tuesday claiming that his death would significantly weaken the IS operations in Iraw.
Hayali, according to reports, was responsible for coordinating the movement of large amounts of weapons, explosives, vehicles and people between Iraq and Syria.
The US National Security Council’s Ned Price said, in a statement, that Hayali was “instrumental in planning operations over the past two years, including the IS offensive in Mosul in June 2014” adding that his death will “adversely impact IS’s operations given that his influence spanned IS’s finance, media, operations, and logistics.”
His death comes after IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was reportedly seriously injured in another air strike by military forces in March this year
Not so long ago, the Iraqi government had claimed to have killed another IS number 2, Abdul Rahman Mustafa Mohammed, in military strikes.