The Islamic State’s deputy leader was reportedly killed in an Iraqi air strike, an Iraqi military spokesman said Saturday.
Ayad al-Jumaili, also known as Abu Yahya, was killed in an air strike targeting a meeting of ISIS leaders in al-Qaim, an area in western Anbar province, not far from the Iraq-Syria border, according to Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasool of Iraq’s Joint Operation Command. He cited military intelligence, but did not offer up a date for the time of the attack. The U.S. military did not confirm the Iraqi report, according to an NBC news report.
Jumaili is reportedly ISIS’s minister of war, second to none other than ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, however, his exact rank within the terrorist group is not confirmed and he has not been mentioned by the group before. Iraqi intelligence has previously claimed Iyad al-Obaidi, also known as Fadel Haifa, is considered the deputy leader.
Rasool said Salem Mudafar al-Ajimi, also known as Abu Khatab, was also killed in the strike.
If confirmed, Jumaili would be the highest-ranking ISIS leader killed by coalition forces since Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, who served as ISIS’s official spokesman. Adnani was killed in an air strike in Syria on Aug. 30.
The whereabouts of ISIS leader Baghdadi are still unknown, though some reports have claimed that he has been injured and is in hiding somewhere in the Iraqi-Syrian border region.
Send tips to russ@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
